Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley

Oh, how we love Ed Emberley. This is maybe the best “how to get rid of scary monsters” book I’ve seen, because there’s essentially no plot or pandering. All you do is get rid of the monster. Well, first you build him up, with a lovely clever little cut-out technique, so that as the pages turn, you add parts — ears, nose, scary white teeth — to the monster. And then, well, then you say, “Go away, big green monster!” and turn the pages to make him go away, part by part, until all that’s left are some scary yellow eyes. And then he’s gone.

Henry loves that he can read the whole thing himself, and I know Eli finds it very satisfying to have so much control over the monster. I think this will be handy as the ghouls of Halloween come out, to remember that we can just say, “Go away!” (Sadly, “Go away, big scary mortgage payment!” doesn’t seem to have paid off our house yet.)