MONSTER AND BOY by Hannah Barnaby. Illus. by Anoosha Syed.  New York: First Second Books, 2020. 132p.  ISBN 978-125021783-7 hc. $13.99   Gr. 1-3   JFIC

What happens when a monster is marginalized because parents tell their children that monsters are not real?  From the monster's point of view, he surprised himself by swallowing the boy who was going to scream for his parents.  He finally burped up the boy, who was a fraction of his original size and needed looking after.  Thus began the adventure of a monster and a boy, trying all kinds of ideas to make the boy large again.  They have escapades throughout the house and run-in with the little sister, before falling asleep and affirming that monsters are real after all.  Syed sprinkles imaginative, half-page illustrations throughout this short chapter book.
Lynette Suckow, Superiorland Preview Center, Marquette, MI