The snacks are under attack!Border's photography anthropomorphizes a pink sugar wafer, a pretzel, and a cheese doodle—not with facial features but with limbs and spectacles made of bent wire. The three sentient foodstuffs escape from their respective packaging and encounter a note left for a child ("a kind of monster," explains Cookie) reading, in part: "I left you some snacks because I'll be late. Love Mom." Alarmed, the trio tries to figure out how to avoid such fates as being dipped in milk, snapped in two, or gulped. Border's photographic scenes humorously depict each calamitous scenario in a kitchen setting scaled like that of Chris Van Allsburg's Two Bad Ants (1988). While the pretzel thinks it makes itself sufficiently unappetizing by rolling around on the floor for six seconds, Cookie says the five-second rule "only works with Monster Moms. Not Monster Kids." Hiding in a cheese grater causes minor injury, prompting Cheese Doodle to say, "I don't feel greater….It's really a cheese worser!" That's just one instance of wordplay in the silly story, which culminates with the snacks forging a different note for the child: "DEAR KID, Please drink some water and eat NOTHING ELSE. From your loving Momma." When the kid returns home, it initially seems the trick works, but a twist ending suggests that's not the way the cookie crumbles.Satisfyingly silly. (Picture book. 4-7)

K-Gr 2 -A pretzel, cheese doodle, and cookie are out for a day of fun in the kitchen when they find a note from "Mom." Upon reading it, the snacks recall the large, dangerous, monsters that lurk outside their packages: kids. Together they discuss several plansbased on familiar snack scenariosbefore finally settling on one that is sure to make them less appetizing. Then the kid comes home. Readers are left to decide the fate of the snacks themselves, though those familiar with horror genre conventions will likely reach the most obvious conclusion, and be delighted in mock dismay. Border's photographs of real life objects are heads above most other picture books made in this medium. Each looks dramatic with shadows and lighting adding to the tone, and the general composition looks carefully and deliberately posed. The author further distinguishes his work by using camera techniques, a title card, and a narrative structure that allude to old monster flicks, with an intentionally corny overlay. VERDICT This comedic horror-lite story about snacks is just delectable, and offers an avenue of connection between the generations.-Rachel Forbes, Oakville Public Library, Ont.