Monster, Don’t Eat Me!

Alex is a gluttonous little pig. At mealtime, he’s always finished first and his Mother gets angry when he sneaks off to the garden to raid the potato patch. ‘Don’t eat when we’re not eating’, she says, and sends him to the creek to clean himself. When he thinks about plucking raspberries along the way, he's stopped by a monster who eyes him as a tasty morsel. Alex manages to distract the hungry monster with clever tricks. But every monster has a mother, and all mothers are more or less alike. ‘Don’t eat when we’re not eating’, his Mother says and sends her little monster off to bed. Alex escapes with a fright.

Mothers, greedy little monsters, eat or be eaten – all this is revealed from two sides. Alex, who fools the dumb, greedy little monster with his wits, is an appealing character, and the detailed colourful prints are genuine puzzles in which Carll Cneut provides Alex and the monster with an entourage. Whenever Cneut illustrates, he always adds something to the story. In this endearing, uncomplicated tale for pre-schoolers, he adds context and mood, with his prints serving up a veritable feast for keen observers.