The Monster Who Ate My Peas by Danny Schnitzlein, illustrated by Matt Faulkner

A little boy makes a bargain with a monster to get rid of his horrible peas....until he finally comes to his senses and realizes that some things are worse than vegetables.

This story combines an oddly nasty moralistic message with deliciously gruesome illustrations a-la David Catrow. It's difficult to believe in the little boy's sudden conversion to pea-love, but the audience is unlikely to worry about the believability of the story when there's a monstrous vegetable-eating creation to groan over.

ISBN: 978-1561452163; Published September 2001 by Peachtree; Borrowed from the library