Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Amberley
Monsters are fascinating and scary for kids. Monsters can be in a dark closet, under the bed or in any unexplored, dark spot. Usually, the idea of monsters is fun or exciting, but it can also lead to serious childhood fears.
Go Away, Big Green Monster! is a book for preschoolers that builds a monster and then sends the monster away. The book contains many cutouts showing different parts of the monster’s face in bright colors, one page and one facial feature at a time.
The first page shows two cut out circles with yellow eyes and large size print that says, “Big Green Monster has two big yellow eyes.” When you turn the page, the cutout on that page shows a green nose between the two yellow eyes and says, “and a long bluish-greenish nose.” It continues to add a mouth, teeth, ears, and hair. This first half of the book is done when we get a big cutout and a “big scary green face!” The next page declares, “YOU DON’T SCARE ME! SO GO AWAY, scraggly purple hair!” And so the process of sending the monster away, part by part, begins.
Building the monster feature by feature, telling it that “YOU DON’T SCARE ME,” and then sending it away bit by bit gives the child a lot of control. That is empowering. And it’s really fun.
The text is limited and large. The language includes several adjectives to describe each part of the face as in “scraggly purple hair.” This creates a rich pattern for thought and conversation.
Fun with Reading
- This can be a very interactive book. It is fun to wag your finger and yell along with the child you are reading with to the statement, “You Don’t Scare Me!”
- It is also fun to gesture with your hand and repeat with your child the refrain, “go away (teeth, hair, ears etc.).
- Talk about the adjectives, “squiggly” and “scraggly,” and see if you can find some other examples. Add an additional adjective when describing something and have your child try doing the same.
- Talk about monsters.
The post Jeanne Loves Books – June 2018 appeared first on Center for Engaging Autism.
