Mona: The Monster Girl by Moritz Petz

Translated by J. Alison James. Illustrated by Maja Dusíková. 32 p., North-South, 2004. When you're a monster, you might be afraid of the children that could be hiding under the bed. Such is the case for green, sharp-toothed, claw-footed Mona, who worries about going to sleep even though her mother reassures her that there's no such thing as children. But in fact, two children do show up in her attic after she's gone to bed. At first, Mona is terrifed of the children, and of course, they're terrifed of her. One child, Lenny, shoots Mona with a water pistol, and he and Maria chase Mona. But Maria realizes that Mona is crying, and the children apologize to her. And they make friends. They find that they envy each other's lives - Mona's mother doesn't like her to be clean or to pick up her room. They teach each other their favorite games. And they discover that the Mona's mother can't see the children, and the children's mother can't see Mona. When Mona finally goes back to bed, she dreams of friendly children who want to play. This isn't the first story of a monster who is afraid of children at bedtime (for example, see The Something by Natalie Babbitt, 1970, Clyde Monster by Robert L. Crowe, 1976, and the hilarious No Such Thing by Jackie Koller French, 1997) but this one is lovely and made me laugh. Illustrated with whimsical watercolor paintings, this story offers children humor and a new perspective to help dispel their fears. Ages 3-6