Starts out with a boy not being able to fall asleep because he's scared of the monster under his bed, but little does he know it's because that monster is scared of the monster underneath him and so on. Once they all discover each other, they can all rest peacefully. ( )

When George can't get to sleep because of the monster underneath his bed, his sister Anna tells the frightening creature to go to bed himself. Unfortunately, the monster under the bed is also having trouble getting to sleep, because of the monster underneath the floorboards. That monster, as it turns out, is frightened sleepless by the monster underneath his little room. And so it goes, as each monster approached turns out to be afraid of the monster lower than himself. When Anna, George and the various monsters finally reach the center of the earth, they think they've found the monster responsible - but have they...?

In this sweetly humorous take on the classic "monster under the bed" scenario, author/artist Kevin Cornell relies on one of the tried and true storytelling mechanisms for dealing with nighttime fears: which is to say, the idea that the monsters are also afraid. The innovation here is in having a chain of fear, with each monster fearing the next, and having a final monster whose fear - being alone - is one with which monster and child alike can identify. I enjoyed the story-line here, and found the colorful, almost animation-style artwork appealing. Children who enjoy haunted houses might likewise find the visuals here very engaging. Recommended to anyone looking for new stories dealing with that age-old problem of what is lurking under the bed (or in the dark) whilst one is trying to go to sleep. ( )