The morals of monster stories : essays on children's picture book messages

Picture books appear so innocent and entertaining with their illustrations and the few well chosen words which merge to tell a story.

Yet they are arguably the most powerful venue of character development possible.

Children observe the character's behaviors on the page and interpret them through the context of their own lives.

It is in this interpretation that character development-societally sanctioned behaviors and morals are taught.

But a child's life most likely does not feature supernatural characters-""Monsters"" such as vampires or sea serpents etc.

This is the first collected edition to ask what morals are offered to children through the use of supernatural characters/Monsters appearing in their books.