Waga's Big Scare

K-Gr 3–Children first meet the frightening Waga standing in a tree on the bright, foreboding cover. Inside the book jacket, they are duly warned to continue reading only if they dare. The monster is crying because he has lost his scare, and readers follow him through some creepy locales as he tries to find it. His facial expressions are slightly sinister, but fans of monsters and all things spooky will revel in his antics. This book may be too scary for very young children, and the scene showing Waga crawling and snaking through the pipes of a building into “your room” does not exactly make for a calming bedtime story, but it’s great as a scary read for Halloween. The artwork is exuberant and grimly amusing, and complements the text well.–Alison Donnelly, Collinsville Memorial Public Library, IL