Amy reminded me of one of my favorite monster books — Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems.
Leonardo, the Terrible Monster
There are a number of lovely books for children about monsters. Generally, monster books are great for helping children talk about fears since generally it turns out that monsters aren’t nearly as scary as they initally seem to be. So, that’s the standard monster book. Then there are books like Shrek and Leonardo that turn this model on their heads.
Leonardo you see, is a Terrible Monster. Not terrible as in very, very frightening but terrible in that he is very bad at being a monster. He’s not scary or disgusting or creepy, even though he wants to be. He desperately wants to scare someone, but he just can’t seem to be scary enough. Until he meets Sam. Until he makes Sam cry in fact. But it turns out, Sam isn’t scared, he’s just lonely and then Leonard has a big choice to make: continue being a terrible monster or focus instead on being a wonderful friend.
Leonardo doll
It’s such a lovely book — oversized with interesting type and fun for adults and children. And it’s sweet. And silly. And apparently, you can get a Leonardo doll as well. Again, who knew?
I think I have to add Mo Willems to my author crushes. Thanks Amy!
Reading Kids Are Dreaming Kids 
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