Title: I Need My Monster
Author: Amanda Noll
Illustrator: Howard McWilliam
A unique monster-under-the-bed story with the perfect balance of giggles and shivers, this picture book relies on the power of humor over fear, appeals to a child’s love for creatures both alarming and absurd, and glorifies the scope of a child’s imagination. One night, when Ethan checks under his bed for his monster, Gabe, he finds a note from him instead: "Gone fishing. Back in a week." Ethan knows that without Gabe’s familiar nightly scares he doesn't stand a chance of getting to sleep, so Ethan interviews potential substitutes to see if they've got the right equipment for the job—pointy teeth, sharp claws, and a long tail—but none of them proves scary enough for Ethan. When Gabe returns sooner than expected from his fishing trip, Ethan is thrilled. It turns out that Gabe didn't enjoy fishing because the fish scared too easily.
I read this book aloud to my 1st graders, and they LOVED it! In the book different substitute monsters appear to try and fill in for Ethan's vacationing monster. The students loved the descriptions of each monster, and almost even more they loved looking at the illustrations of that monster. Some made them giggle too. Super fun to read to them. Many wanted to look at the book later because the illustrations are so detailed that they wanted to explore it more. What I loved was that yes he has a monster under his bed, but it's not something that really scares him a lot. He needs his monster to scare him enough to stay in bed and sleep. I loved that concept. So little kids can see a good/safe reason!
YES! for sure I'd put this in the media center. I already do have it in mine, but if you're a media specialist I would definitely get it.
Who a boost of courage
Who need to see monsters as silly
Who like silly stories
