Monster Picture Books

If your kids like monsters (or even if they are afraid of them), here's a book that should make them laugh. Jumpy Jack & Googily by Meg Rosoff and illustrated by Sophie Blackall, has a fresh take on the whole monster thing.

Jumpy Jack is a timid snail with a big fear of monsters. He thinks they're everywhere, and turns to his best friend Googily to check out various situations. He asks Googily to check behind the door, under the table, in the pool. The thing that neither of them seems to realize is that Googily is a monster. Kids will quickly see what the joke is, and will love being in the know as they're laughing at the pair's antics.

Googily is an endearing monster with his pointed fangs, wispy eyebrows and bug eyes. He's also quite dapper in his bowler hat, yellow plaid pants and pointy red shoes, which makes him not very scary. I think one of the best messages in the book comes at the end, when Googily (the monster) admits what he's really afraid of... socks. It just goes to show that everybody has some fears, and what's scary to one person seems downright silly to another.

Here are a couple of other fun monster books to check out: Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberly and The Monster at the End of this Book (Starring Lovable, Furry, Old Grover) by Jon Stone.

BookNosher Activity: How about making monster cookies for a special treat? Here's an easy way to go about it:

1. First make some sugar cookies, cutting them into fairly large circles.
2. Then put out a plastic knife, a small cup of white frosting, a popsicle stick, a cup of M&Ms, red licorice (cut in short strips), candy corn, gum drops and food coloring.
3. Have the child choose the color to put in the frosting-this will be the monster's skin.
4. Drop a few drops of food coloring into the frosting.
5. Have the child mix the frosting and coloring up with a popsicle stick.
6. Spread the frosting onto the cookie.
7. Decorate with the rest of the ingredients; soon you'll have a scary monster to eat!