Who's the Grossest of Them All?

June 6, 2016
In this lightweight, Shrek-ish twist on the “who’s the fairest?” rhyme, Goblin and Troll compete to be “the nastiest, most horrible creature in the forest.” Goblin is green-skinned and bony, with drooping ears, beady eyes, a jagged overbite, and a brown top hat. Troll is a muscular tramp with purple skin, Popeye forearms, ragged clothes, and an underbite of knobby yellow teeth. Parker (The Little Snowplow) pictures them in the classic comics style of Will Eisner, Bill Peet, or (more recently) Gene Luen Yang. Montanari (My Dog’s a Chicken) describes Goblin and Troll as frightening passersby with raspberry noises and “ghastly” armpit sounds. Although Goblin and Troll fancy themselves “completely grotesque,” they are also unfailingly polite (“Good sir,” says Goblin. “Would you be so kind as to distinguish which of us is the grossest?”), and they fail to impress a girl who wears a red hood and flagrantly picks her nose. For all their boasts, the characters —and their snotty challenger—deal in silly elementary-school antics; some readers may not be any more impressed than Little Red is. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Erzsi Deak, Hen & Ink. Illustrator’s agent: Judith Hansen, Hansen Literary.

May 1, 2016
The latest in the unquenchable who's-the-most horrible, hideous, revolting, repulsive, disgusting, gross, and vile genre.Goblin wakes in his cave. "Who's the nastiest, most horrible creature in the forest?" he asks the mirror. "I am!" Not if his nattiness has anything to say about it: top hat, vest, string tie. He takes a neighborhood stroll and relishes how the witch and the wolf recoil at his nastiness. He thinks. Coming to a bridge he hears a challenge to his boasting. "I, Troll, am the nastiest, most horrible creature in the forest." The dialogue doesn't even offer an exclamation mark, but what readers do get is a pair of yellow eyes in the darkness of the span's shadows: Ben-Day-dot yellow eyes, as in the Sunday funnies, a conspicuous quirk that characterizes all the art. Goblin and Troll ask a couple passers-by who is more grotesque. A wayfarer chooses the troll (because he is "puke-purple"); an old woman chooses the goblin (due to his underarm farts). Along comes a little white girl in a red hood. Pondering the question, she mines her nozzle for a good booger. She carelessly gets some on her chin, then swipes the remainder down her sweater. Thankfully, she does not eat any. Who's the grossest? Nothing beats a booger. Since the most natural audience for a grossness contest is typically past picture books, subject and format seem to be a classic mismatch. (Picture book. 3-7)

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September 1, 2016

PreS-Gr 2-A troll and a goblin, each convinced that he is the grossest creature in the forest, pose the title question to unsuspecting folks they happen to meet. Although both creatures are "utterly horrifying," a man decides that the troll's "puke-purple" skin makes him the most disgusting. Realizing that it's only one person's opinion and not a fair sampling, they ask an old woman passerby to decide between the two. Although both are "equally loathsome," she is forced into a decision once the goblin starts making rude noises with his hand in his armpit. Now tied at one vote each, Goblin and Troll query a little girl. Dressed in a familiar hooded red cape and carrying a basket, the girl begins to pick her nose while she is pondering her answer. As the green nose slime on her fingertip gets bandied about in their faces and is finally wiped on the front of her dress, Troll and Goblin decide that she is the grossest creature of all. Repulsed, they run off, and the little girl skips homeward after happily declaring herself the "winner." The ink and digitally colored illustrations are full bleed, and the expressive faces add some humor. VERDICT Although possibly useful in breaking the habit of a dedicated nose-picker, avoid maligning Red's character and skip this one.-Sara-Jo Lupo Sites, George F. Johnson Memorial Library, Endicott, NY

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2016
Grades K-2 Nosepickers, rejoice! In a friendly contest, purple Troll and green Goblin buttonhole passersby to get their votes on who is grosser. Unfortunately, it's a tieuntil, that is, a small child in a red cloak comes skipping by to school the two on truly gross behavior. Readers will have to supply most of the ick factor themselves, as in Parker's sunny, clean-lined cartoon illustrations neither Troll nor Goblin looks as loathsome as they proclaim themselves to be. Likewise, the big green booger that the child hauls out of her nose and waves around on a finger is no more disgusting in appearance than a pinch of modeling clay. Nor does she eat it: just smearing it on her face and dress puts the revolted monsters to flight and leaves her the victor. This lesson in decorum is cleverly oblique, and its unapologetic protagonist compares favorably with those of boy-centric picks like Carolyn Beck's cautionary Richard Was A Picker (2010) or William Joyce's autobiographical Billy's Booger (2015).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)