Monster Needs a Christmas Tree

K-Gr 2—On the day before Christmas, Monster suddenly realizes that he needs a tree or he might not get the present he wants from Santa. So the Wild Thing wannabe (blue fur, purple Justin Bieber bangs, yellow horns and claws) and his human boy go downtown in search of the perfect tree. Along the way, Monster is distracted by a visit to a department-store Santa, a hill for sledding, snow-monster building, and a snowball fight. There are no trees left in the lot when Boy and Monster finally make it there. Monster comes up with the surprisingly impressive solution of creating a tree out of all the potted plants in the house, and in the end, Santa comes through with the desired puppy. Colorful illustrations reflect Grieb's background as a storyboard artist for Disney; the rhyming text is pedestrian at best. And why, when the rest of the house is completely decked out for the holiday, is there no tree already? An additional purchase.—Mara Alpert, Los Angeles Public Library