My Brother Dan's Delicious
SCHOLASTIC READING COUNTS! SELECTION INTERNATIONAL READING ASSOCIATION/CHILDREN'S BOOK COUNCIL CHILDREN'S CHOICES SELECTION Everyone knows that monsters, especially those with a taste for pan-fried boys, are waiting to catch the smart ones when they are home alone.    Joseph Demorett II is known to family and friends-but hopefully not monsters-as Joey, a gifted and talented third-grader. More important, he has an older brother who is bigger, eats his vegetables, and is surely tastier.   When Joey is left at home alone while his parents visit the neighbors for coffee, he senses the presence of something smacking its slithery lips in the closet. He hears a great stomach growling behind the basement door. He sees a giant shadow lurking outside on the back porch. All of these things can only mean that there is a monster waiting to catch and eat an innocent boy. Or do they? Steven L. Layne is a full-time professor of literacy education at Judson University in Elgin, Illinois, where he teaches courses in children's and adolescent literature and directs the university's master of education in literacy program. A veteran of public education, Layne, also an international literacy consultant, has served as a featured author and keynote speaker at conferences, workshops, and schools throughout the world. An award-winning author, Layne has been recognized by such organizations as the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English. He lives with his family in St. Charles, Illinois. Chuck Galey is the owner of Chuck Galey Illustration and has illustrated for magazines, corporations, and advertising clients across the country. A graphic design graduate of Mississippi State University, Galey has illustrated more than thirty books, including Pelican's Rock 'n' Roll Dogs, Jazz Cats, The Fat Stock Stampede at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, The Cotton Candy Catastrophe at the Texas State Fair, SantaSaurus, and Jay and the Bounty of Books. A true Southern gentleman, he and his family call Jackson, Mississippi, home.