Monster Love: I Loathe You by David Slonim

Little Monster said, "I loathe you."

"I loathe you, too," said Big Monster.

"How much?" asked Little Monster sheepishly.

"Mosquite bites? I hate them, YES!

But next to YOU, I loathe them less!" smiled Big Monster.

It's a case of one-upmanship for Big Monster and his little orange offspring, as they try to top each other in a loathing match. Little Monster scratches his head as he tries to think of a way to top his dad.

"I loathe you more than what the cat dragged in,
With what the dog threw up thrown in!"

It looks like this match is going to end with Loathe All as the score, when Little Monster has a disconcerting thought. What if he can't keep up the pace? What if he just can't be that bad every single day?

"What if ... I should just obey?"

With his brand-new I Loathe You (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster, 2012), author-illustrator David Slonim manages to poke gentle fun at the sometimes shameless smarm-mongering writers of all those see-how-much-I-love-you books while coming down to the same all-too-true theme, that parents love their own kids no matter what, just...because!

His big green daddy Monster and lovably orange Little Monster are everything a bedtime father and son monster duo should be, and his rhyming monster trash talk tale will tease out the titters and giggles from any primary crowd. As Publishers Weekly puts it with wit and wisdom, "Even as Slonim studiously avoids all things saccharine, readers will recognize the affection between the two characters and enjoy poring over the comically unpleasant details in Slonim's labor of loathe."