A bump in the night by Amberin Huq

Five Mile Press 2016. ISBN 9781760068820
(Age: 4+) Recommended. Bravery. Bedtime. Fear. Imagination. 'Things that go bump in the night' is an old adage which is turned to good use here as the young girl confronts what she believes to be outside her bedroom door. She hears bumps, noises and knockings and assumes something very bad is going on. She thinks of pirates with cutlasses drawn, of giants and angry gnomes, but knows that these do not exist. She tells herself so, albeit with a question mark at the end of her sentence, but still determines to open her bedroom door and confront what is there.
Readers will love the recognition of fear that sometimes dogs their bedtimes, will laugh out loud at the things she dreams up to explain the noise, and stand with her as she opens that door, even though they stay behind her.
On opening that door, she finds a monster, but not your usual type of monster. This gentle giant lives under the bed and loves to eat. Mr Snuffles turfs out the other monsters that hide in her room, settling down under her bed once again.
She has confronted her fear and found it to be baseless, well, almost! What an interesting way to introduce the idea of feeling safe, of not putting up with things that make you unhappy, but checking them out and putting them behind you. Some classes will have great discussions after reading this book, and will take the opportunity to talk about safety issues, but most will take it as a very funny read about 'things that go bump in the night'.
Fran Knight