From award-winning author Martine Murray (dubbed Australia’s Kate DiCamillo) and painter Anna Read comes a timeless and timely tale about the monstrousness of envy, and every creature’s—even a monster’s—need for love

It starts with a whisper in your ear. A prickly feeling that something isn’t quite right. And it builds until a sneaky, possessive thought wriggles into your mind, and an insidious want burrows into your heart. Before you know it, you’re discontent, convinced that you’re owed more than what you’ve got. This is the work of the Wanting Monster.

One day, the Wanting Monster arrives in a small village, but no one notices him, despite his antics. Feeling snubbed, he starts sowing discontent and envy of one’s neighbor. So infectious is the wanting and greed awakened by the Wanting Monster that even the stars are plucked, one by one, from the sky. Covetousness and distrust reign. Will the village people ever return to their senses? Will they ever learn that it’s the monster of wanting that’s been poisoning their minds? The Wanting Monster almost triumphs . . . Fortunately, he is finally seen for what he is, and this recognition unleashes the purifying force of collective lamentation and a coming together to reroot and rebuild.