What If

What If

From Kirkus Reviews A child's imaginings about an apocalyptic day that might be looming turn into a heavenly view when his mother takes over and presents somewhat more positive prospects. Little Monster has a list of ``what ifs'' that are scaring him more even as he talks to his mother about them: What will happen if he wakes up and there's a great big black hole in the floor, what if there's a spider, what if he is falling down the hole, with the spider, and the house is on fire? His mother admits how frightening it sounds. From exquisite understatement to sublime overstatement, Mother Monster spins for Little Monster a day of such rapturous happinessballoons, ice cream, playingthat she wipes away his fears. Collins's cartoons work well in this context, serving both to dispel the more evil intimations, and to inject the benign moments with a touch of monstrousness. (Picture book. 3-6) -- Copyright ?1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. When Little Monster has a bad dream, he wakes up full of questions for his mother, who then soothes his fears with more pleasant "what ifs," sending him calmly back to sleep.