He's baaaaaaack. The unibrowed blue monster introduced in the picture book Wolfboy returns in the amiable Wolfboy Is Scared. Also back: Andy Harkness's sui generis illustrations, this time in service to the righteous cause of helping children cope with being afraid of the dark.
Wolfboy has been having a blast playing in the woods with his rabbit friends, but uh-oh: it's almost "moonset." To make it home on time, Wolfboy must take a shortcut through the Grumble Monster's turf. He dodges what he's certain are "MOLDY MONSTER TOES" ("Those are mossy roots, Wolfboy," explain the rabbits), he avoids "CREEPY MONSTER CLAWS" ("Probably just branches, Wolfboy"), and so on. Young readers will likely derive both amusement and reassurance from the big reveal during the story's inevitable monster-versus-monster face-off: Wolfboy isn't the only creature who, while wielding serious chompers, is figuratively toothless.
Wolfboy Is Scared is pure toddler bait, with its gently hair-raising buildup and its protagonist designed to make readers feel a cut above in the smarts department. But the book's hallmark is its art, which seems to exist in three alluringly lumpy, bumpy dimensions; in a note, Harkness says that the illustrations were "meticulously sculpted inside a VR 'workspace' in much the same way I would sculpt with real clay." His art thrives on counterpoint: the candy-colored "clay" imagery blazes against nighttime blacks and browns, and the shaggy, galumphing monsters set off the cuddlesome rabbits, who would look at home in a child's bedroom, where this book will likely get much play. --Nell Beram, freelance writer and YA author