by Moe Zilla

Created on: April 25, 2010

"Joe was not afraid of very many things," the book opens, "but he WAS afraid of monsters." And there's some very funny drawings of Joe - smiling as his tiny eyes study his reflection in a mirror as he's wearing a Superman cape. In the next picture, Joe's pulling the covers up over his face, and his eyes have turned into scared pinpoints.  Carl DiRocco drew the book's simple illustrations. But the funny story came from author Ruth Marie Berglin.

"The worst monster of all was the one under his bed," Berglin writes. And apparently it's a real monster, since during the night Joe can hear its claws scratching and its fangs scraping! Joe takes elaborate precautions to avoid the monster, like leaping from the top of his dresser into the bed so he can't be dragged down to the floor! Joe's mother even equipped him with a squirt bottle filled with green liquid, labeled "Monster Spray."

The turning point comes when Joe's mother reads him the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Joe is inspired, since the billy goats use their brains and their words to outwit the troll. But in the end, the goats solved their problems with a face-to-face battle. Joe comes up with a better idea: he writes the monster a letter using his bright red crayon.

He hopes all the exclamation points he uses will scare the monster away...

"Go AWAY! And don't ever come back!" Joe writes to the monster. And then the illustrator reveals a secret. There is a monster hiding under the bed - with big sad yellow eyes. "Quietly, shaking with fear, the monster crept out from under the bed..." And hesitantly, the monster picks up the green crayon on Joe's desk, and then composes his monsterly response.

"Please don't hurt me," it begins, apologizing, and admitting that the monster only hides under the bed because it's scared. ("P.S. I'm really not very big or mean...") But Joe worries this letter is just a trick from a nastier monster, and writes back - insisting that he still wants the monster to leave.

"Find a different bed to hide under... GO AWAY NOW!"

It's a funny story, and it obviously teaches a lesson, since children start to feel an understanding for the thing they were afraid of. Soon the beffudled monster is seen sitting in a blue arm chair, crying, as it studies Joe's angry response. But when Joe finally writes back with a friendly response, the relieved monster smiles and jumps - and then does a happy monster dance. It even turns out the monster's favorite book is "The Three Billy Goats Gruff."

And by the end of the book, he and Joe are having a sleep-over.

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