I Need My Monster

I Need My MonsterWritten By: Amanda Noll
Illustrated By: Howard McWilliam

NEED my monster!? When Ethan’s monster goes fishing and he is forced to consider substitute monsters, none of them are quite right. While I rarely think about the possibility of a monster under my bed, I do still wonder if something is lurking in the dark. Ethan’s point of view is hilarious from the very first page and it will have you wildly wondering, why in the world does Ethan need the absolute scariest monster underneath his bed?

Discussion/Project Ideas:
1. Choose a topic that you feel has a common emotion or idea (such as being scared of monsters) and turn it around. Write a story about it from the other point of view.
Examples: Spiders save the day (they eat tons of harmful insects), swimming with sharks (statistically more people are killed each year by pigs), lightning strikes (Ben Franklin was thankful for them).
2. Write down one of your fears and have a friend write down one of his/her fears. Exchange papers. Be as creative and logical as you can and try to convince each other why you shouldn’t be afraid.
3. Choose four things from the following list of common fears: spiders, snakes, flying, heights, water, crowds, the dark, clowns. Take a piece of paper and divide it into four sections. Next, put one choice in each section. Fears often have benefits, such as a person who is afraid of the water will probably never swim alone. List at least three benefits for each of the fears you chose in the corresponding sections.

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