Outrageous illustrations and a deadpan text work perfectly in this tale of parents who get carried away with their own best intentions. When Thea decides she wants to be the scariest monster in the whole wide world for Halloween, her parents have their own ideas. They want her costume to be sweet and frilly-a beautiful butterfly, her mother says, or a Spanish dancer, says her father. But Thea wants claws and fangs and green scales. Who"s ever heard of a terrifying butterfly or a bone-chilling Spanish dancer? It takes a visit from her resourceful, diplomatic grandmother for Thea to get the answer to her wish...and her parents", too.