Many a child has gotten ready for bed with a fear of monsters lurking in dark closets or hiding under the bed. J.W. Zarek’s delightful children’s book The Stomp-Clomp-Clump Monster Above the Bed, illustrated by Anastasiia at GetYourBookIllustrations, uses a creative twist of perspective to show that “monsters aren’t always monsters after all”.
The tale opens with a pair of eyes in the dark, those of Fred, a purple Gumby-like character sporting a fuzzy mane. Together with three dust bunnies—big and brave Brutus Bunfluff, Dust Puff Ted the germaphobe, and bespectacled scaredy cat Gunnar Puffbutz—the group have created a comfortable little world for themselves beneath the bed.
They’ve organized an array of lost items from the world above like puzzle pieces, buttons, socks, and crayons. But a giant pair of red shoes suddenly come clomping into the room. The dust bunnies huddle together, wondering about the loud noise.
Upon investigating, Fred notes a messy room and a boy, Billy, asleep on top of their bed. Fred and his dust bunny cohorts declare war against this intruder. But facing an environment filled with what they consider booby traps of plastic building blocks, broken cookies, pencils, and some sticky, slippery cherry stuff, they retreat.
The fuzzy creatures decide to return a missing crayon that Billy is searching for, introduce themselves, and propose sharing the space.
The dust bunnies are bombarded by a menagerie of flying puzzle pieces, blue sticky stuff, and stabbing squares, as Billy’s continued search wrecks their home. Great loud sounds fill the backdrop, SKREETCH, SLAM, THUD, THUD, THUMP, THUMP, and BOING. Billy himself is startled when he finally hears the dust bunnies demanding he stop the ruckus.
Having disrupted the dust bunnies’ peaceful existence, Billy apologizes with an offer of cookies. The dusty creatures accept, so long as Billy agrees to clean his room and apologize for accusing his sister of taking his things.
Anastasia’s Illustrations throughout are warm and adorable.
Shades of blue with star-studded bed linens capture the nighttime scenes, with a planetary mobile that casts a glow above. In one moment, as the dust bunnies march across the bedding, the perspective of their size and the folds of the blankets give the appearance of a lunar landscape.
Pip the Domovoi once again adds a hint of mystery to Zarek’s picture book, a spritely little creature appears in the background of several pages.
The Stomp-Clomp-Clump Monster Above the Bed by J.W. Zarek and illustrated by Anastasiia at GetYourBookIllustrations, focuses on themes of friendship, sharing, and accountability. Fun for youngsters anytime, but when read at bedtime it soothes imaginary fears of lurking monsters and helps children realize that sometimes friendships can form in the most unlikely of places.
