PreS-Gr 2-A child tests the limits of his mother's love-and puts off bedtime-by asking how she would react if he were a variety of creatures, such as a smelly skunk, a scary ape, a meat-eating dinosaur, or a bug-eating Martian. The mother responds reassuringly, describing to her child how she would care for and love him despite his being a seemingly unlovable beast. This audio treatment of the first title in Lisa McCourt's "Stinky Face" series (Scholastic, 2004) benefits from an affectionate and playful reading by Kristen Krohn, portraying the mother's amusement at her son's vivid imagination. Lively background instrumental music alternates between dramatic horn and percussion tones for each creature described by the boy, and airy piano and string lilts for the mother's responses. Subtle sound effects accentuate the telling. The book's pastel illustrations by Cyd Moore make the creatures non-threatening and appealing. Page-turn signals are optional. A fun story for bedtime or story time.-Jennifer Verbrugge, Dakota County Galaxie Library, Apple Valley, MN (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Ages 2^-5. In a funny, tender bedtime story, a mother tucks her child in with lots of hugs and kisses and words of love, but the toddler worries: Would you still love me if I were a big scary ape? Or a super smelly skunk? Or a slimy swamp creature? Or a Cyclops that had just one big, gigantic eye? Each time, the mother is totally reassuring, unconditionally loving, and wonderfully creative about how she would help and nurture and adore the monstrous offspring ("I would dress you in colors that showed off your nice green skin . . . I would buy you a bigger toothbrush for your big teeth . . . I would move next to the swamp . . . and I would say I love you, my little Cyclops"). Moore's paintings, in neon colors with lots of purple and green, contrast the gentle bedtime caresses with the wild scenarios. This is a book that adds depth to McBratney's best-selling Guess How Much I Love You? (1995). The playful uproar here dramatizes every child's elemental fear that no one would love you if people knew how bad you really were. The answer here is absolute: nothing could ever make me stop loving you. --Hazel Rochman

A child tests his mother's love as she tucks him in: Would you love me 'if I were a big, scary ape, . . . a super smelly skunk,' and so on. Her 'Runaway Bunny'like responses ('I would make your birthday cake out of bananas . . . ') rise to each challenge until a satisfied, sleepy-eyed child concedes, 'Mama, I love you.' The humorous illustrations are ultimately as naive as the ending. From HORN BOOK 1997, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In this sentimental q&a, a child imagines himself as various uncuddly creatures while his mother promises unconditional love. The child's queries flow in waves of thick, black hand-lettered words with the name of a despicable monster occasionally highlighted in an appropriately putrid color: "But Mama, but Mama, what if I were a super smelly skunk, and... my name was Stinky Face?" His mother replies (in evenly paced typeset text) that she would bathe him, "and if you still smelled bad, I wouldn't mind, and I would... whisper in your ear, `I love you, Stinky Face.'" The child is inspired by stuffed animals and a picture book to conjure uncharming beasts that range from an ape to a seaweed-covered swamp creature to a pointy-headed cyclops. Fantasy spreads show each of the boy's metamorphoses, alongside his fearless mother (faced with an alligator, she buys a bigger toothbrush, and for the meat-eating dinosaur she makes hamburgers). Moore's (A Frog Inside My Hat) soft sunset shades of lavender, teal, pink and peach convey the fanciful animals that, no matter how toothy or slimy, become gentle under the mother's loving gaze. McCourt's (The Rain Forest Counts!) sweet yet effective game sends a soothing message. Ages 3-7. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved