Monster and Boy

A monster has spent years living under a boy’s bed. They have never met, but the monster loves the boy and knows everything about him. One night, after hearing the boy’s mother tell him there is no such thing as monsters, the monster decides to come out from under the bed. He tries to introduce himself to the boy, but panics and swallows the boy instead. When the monster eventually coughs him up, the boy has shrunk in size. What follows is a quirky and adventurous story about restoring the boy to his regular size. The pair venture downstairs—monsters are very, very afraid of downstairs—and run into another monster, the sister-monster. “This story is not quite what you were expecting, is it?”

Monster and Boy is the first book in Hannah Barnaby’s new chapter-book series. It is illustrated by Anoosha Syed, whose lively drawings add an extra dose of humor to the pages. Interwoven throughout the story are chapters (marked with green pages) in which the narrator directly addresses the reader. The narrator helps guide newly independent readers through the story, detailing the monster’s backstory and providing some hilarious commentary. The book contains a beautiful message about friendship and the power of a monster’s imagination.