I Will Fight Monsters For You

I Will Fight Monsters For You illustrated by Santi Balmes and illustrated by Lyona (2015)

Martina knows that when the moon comes out, it is time for bed. Everyone will go to sleep and no one will hear the MONSTER but her. The MONSTERS live on the other side of her bedroom floor. Their world is an upside-down reflection of our world and if she drops her hand over the edge of the bed, the MONSTER that lives under her bed will be able to grab her and drag her into its world. Before she goes to sleep, she calls her father. He promises that he will fight the MONSTERS for her. On the other side of Martina’s room, is a monster named Anitram who is afraid to go to sleep because she believes there are HUMANS who live in an upside-down reflection world. She is also afraid to drop her hand over the edge of her bed in case a HUMAN grabs it and drags her into its world. Anitram’s father promises to fight the HUMANS for her. Then one night, both Martina and Anitram fall asleep and their hands drop over the side of their beds. A hole opens up between the two worlds and they feel each other’s warm hands. They realize there is no reason to be afraid and they didn’t need their fathers’ to fight for them. From then on they hold hands at night and never worry about what lives under their beds.

I love this bedtime story. It was first published in Spanish in 2011. This is the first English publication.

The artwork is beautiful and the upside-down images are so much fun to compare to the world we know.

Look at all these great monster crafts. Think about how these soft and cuddly monsters can help a sleepless kiddo.

Hold hands with these glove monster friends.

Make soft and squishy play dough monster friends.

Make tiny pom-pom monster friends for little hands.

Create mix and match felt monster friends with exchangeable features.