Don't make me cross by Smriti Prasadam-Halls

Ill. by Angie Rozelaar. Bloomsbury, 2019. ISBN 9781408885611
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Themes: Selfishness, Sharing, Anger, Birthday parties, Friendship, Family. Little Monster is very unhappy. It is his birthday and although he has invited his friends, they do not seem to revel in his winning all the games or eating all the best food. He likes to win, and when he does not, he becomes very cross, displaying his bad temper for all to see. Sitting at the table he takes all the best food, after all it is his birthday, much to the chagrin of his guests. When the group plays hide and seek, the disgruntled guests take the game at its word, and hide so that Little Monster cannot find them.
Told in four line rhyming stanzas, children will laugh out loud at the antics of Little Monster, displaying his bad temper and selfish behaviour for all to see. Children will love anticipating the last word of each verse, learning some of the verses to repeat with the reader, or say out loud to their friends. They will easily recognise the bad behaviour of the monster, and learn that perhaps his behaviour is not the kind of behaviour that wins friends. They will laugh out loud at the results of his selfishness as he falls over the table laden with all the food, but smile as his friends forgive him when he realises the folly of his behaviour.
A neatly drawn cautionary tale, children will recognise the moral, and be enchanted with the funny illustrations, making the most of the behaviour tantrums put on by Little Monster. The looks on the faces will brings tears of laughter, while the things the monster does in wrecking his own party will cause readers to talk about the things he should have done in welcoming people to his party.
Fran Knight