We're Going on a Goon Hunt

Echoing the scheme and cadence of the classic children's song, "We're Going on a Bear Hunt," Rex's latest sassy send-up brings back the title character of his Goodnight Goon, as a costume-clad adult and kids set out to find the amiable green monster on Halloween night. When they can't go over or under a sequence of obstacles (including a "murky, bubbling swamp" and a "foggy, crumbling graveyard"), the adventurers clamber through them--growing increasingly scared--except for one. In a comically ironic twist, the sole intrepid soul is the youngest and most cheerfully clad, decked out in a pink unicorn costume, who is content to engage in a cemetery dance party while the others bolt for home. Sprinkled with lurking monsters to spot, Rex's mixed-media pictures have a timeless feel that renders this tale much more charming than chilling. Ages 3-5. (Aug.)