Leo Timmer’s The Monster in the Lake is a lovely picture book. The story is simple, but satisfying; one duck invites others to the lake, but one is worried about the monster in the lake. The other ducks reassure the worried one that there’s no monster. They go to the lake, and there is a monster, but only the scared one sees him (first reversal)–and he turns out to be huge, but playful (second reversal). The other ducks don’t see Eric (the scared duck) for a while, and worry there is a monster, but don’t see it (third reversal). Eric returns from his visit to the monster’s underwater home. He’s fine, but he’s the only one to see the monster–and is now reassuring the others there is no monster (final reversal).
That summary, though, does not communicate the fine design or the joyous illustrations. The best example of these can be seen on the foldout pages at the book’s center, where Eric visit’s the monster’s smiling, crowded, multi-colored community. Good stuff.
