5 stars
A heartfelt, wordless tale that shows that bravery is being scared and doing it anyway.
Molly is an introvert and mostly keeps to herself, but when she sees some kids talking about books, she longs to join in. The only problem? There’s a monster that follows her everywhere she goes. When Molly tries to run away, the monsters only multiply. Finally, she has had enough. Her frustration mounts and she gathers the courage to face her fears.
A wonderful representation of facing your fears, doing the things that scare you, and not letting fear and anxiety get in the way.
Molly tries to run from her monsters, hide from them, and yell at them, but it’s no use. By the end, Molly has to learn to do what scares her even when her monster is present. Nicely shows not letting fear and anxiety run your life.
The artwork is so beautiful. The visual of Molly yelling at the monsters and them briefly going away is a lovely metaphor for Molly gathering the internal motivation to overcome her fear.
I love that at the end, Molly’s monster doesn’t fully go away. It’s still there just behind her, but she ignores it and enjoys her time with her new friends.
Such a gorgeous, soothing, wonderful book with lovely images and beautiful messages about bravery.