Sitting in the moonlit swamp with his West Highland white terrier, a boy hears, "Splish splash / rumba-rumba / bim bam BOOM!" and knows it's a swamp monster. He high-tails it up a willow, but his sister comes to tell him Ma wants him home for bedtime. When they hear the monster again, she joins him up the tree. Each time a relative arrives to fetch him home, they end up in the tree. Even the monster is frightened into joining them by the strange sound—and then Ma herself appears to march her brood off to bed. They all go "splish splash" in the bath, "rumba-rumba" with their toothbrushes, "bim bam" up the stairs and "BOOM!" into bed. Crow's rhythmic chant and rhymed text are nicely brought to life by Pamintuan's bright, swampy, expressive art, the clean lines and colors making the most of the absurd situation. Bedtime and monsters haven't gone together so well in years. Worth a second copy to have on hand for storytimes on either topic. (Picture book. 3-6)

Rhymed text interspersed with a "Splish splash rumba-rumba bim bam BOOM!" refrain tells the story of a boy "sittin' by a swamp." He gets freaked out by monster sounds, only to discover, with relief, that the noises are actually coming from a benign source close to his heart. Digital illustrations with blue-greenish backgrounds have a synthetic look but effectively highlight the humor.

PreS-Gr 1 In this swampy tale set "'neath the fat gold moon," a boy describes what he repeatedly hears: "Splish splash, rumba-rumba, bim bam BOOM!" With shaking hands and a pounding heart, he races through the "sludgy slime" with the mysterious creature at his heels before taking refuge in the branches of a willow tree. The boy's siblings come to retrieve him, followed by two cousins, but all end up high in the tree out of reach of the monster. Then just within arm's grasp of their dreaded adversary, the boy's mother calls for everyone to return; she understands all too well a kid's playful imagination and orders everyone, including "the monster," to get home and take a bath before bed. Lively, colorful cartoon characters set in inky black or deep blue moonlit scenes and offset by crisp, white pages add energy and suspense to the story. The repetitive chorus, a simple rhyming story line that will draw readers in, and the perennial appeal of books that are just "scary" enough make this title an appropriate addition. Marian Creamer, Children's Literature Alive, Portland, OR