'A gentle and humorous fable about a tiny monster who causes enormous trouble in one village. The story pits the small village, with its stream and forest and fields, against human greed, carefully stirred into the minds of the hapless villagers by the attention-seeking Wanting Monster. The villagers realize that their emergent competitiveness and acquisitiveness has ruined the life and beauty of their village, just as the Wanting Monster, now expelled from the village, realizes the value of befriending.' (Publication summary)