I loved all the Mercer Mayer books I read as a kid, but I am spotlighting this one because when I was recently re-reading it to a small child of my acquaintance, it was so much fun to read.

The plotline is relatively straightforward — Professor Wormbog collects “beasties”, one for each letter of the alphabet. He’s gotten A-Y already, so he’s on a quest for the elusive Zipperump-a-zoo.

He has all sorts of adventures: out on the sea (where he encounters a Blowfat glowfish, which has to be one of the most fun things to say out loud), up in the skies, and down in the depths of the Bottomless Pit. Eventually he gives up, goes home, takes a bath, and falls asleep in front of the fire. Then of course all the Zipperump-a-zoos come out and frolic through the house around him.

And even though the book is all about monsters, they’re very appealing and friendly-looking monsters, so they aren’t overly scary to a young reader (at least, not in my experience). You can get a look at some of the fabulous art on the Amazon page, with the “Look Inside” feature. The thing I love most about this book (aside from the fact that it’s all about MONSTERS) is the detail of the images. Take the scene where the Professor is running away from the mountaintop that turned out to be a giant lizard monster. The monster and the professor (holding onto his hat as he runs) are wonderful in and of themselves. But then you’ve got little extras, like the “Pure Ivory” inscribed on the monster’s giant tooth. And the rabbit in a hat sitting calmly off to the side reading a book with some other tiny monsters. And the hairbrush, soap, tooth-brush, tooth-paste and book (helpfully titled “Good Book”) falling out of the professor’s backpack as he runs. And that’s a relatively uncomplicated page. The cavern and beach scenes have loads more to look at. And if you are sharp-eyed, you can find most, if not all, the alphabet-full of monsters scattered throughout the book.

Sadly, it looks like this book is currently out of print. I’m very pleased I still have my copy, but I hope very much they reissue it someday so more people can enjoy it. Hopefully there are plenty of copies in libraries out there!