We read three books this week about monsters. No, it's not even Halloween. These three books are not intended to scare children. In fact it's just the opposite. There is something empowering about the theme of each of these monster books. The first one I remember from my own childhood. In fact, the copy I'm reading here IS the one from my childhood.
Silly Grover finds out HE is in fact the monster at the end of the book. He was so afraid of getting to the end of the book because he knew he was supposed to be afraid of monsters. It makes children giggle to realize that even monsters are afraid of monsters.
The second book is Ed Emberley's Go Away Big Green Monster. Add in the matching puppet and this story becomes even more interactive. The children label each feature of the monster. They then tell the monster firmly "You Don't Scare Me, So Go Away." Then one by one they watch each feature disappear as they call out (or yell if you allow) for them to "Go Away!"
https://www.lakeshorelearning.com/products/language/oral-language-storytelling/go-away-big-green-mon
https://www.lakeshorelearning.com/products/books/hardcover-books/go-away-big-green-monster-hardcover
Last but not least we have a not very well known book called Jeremy Draws a Monster. Judging by some of the drawings in the book such as a rotary phone, and a boombox this is another older story. We meet Jeremy looking out the window at other children playing but for some reason he isn't with them. He then draws his own monster who ends up being extremely annoying and demanding. Jeremy handles the situation very well and sends his monster packing. By the end of the story, the monster has been taken care of and Jeremy is playing with the neighborhood children. It's a wonderful narrative about how we all have problems; some we have even created ourselves. However we also all have the strength and wit to handle our problems.
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