The Night Monster [Sushree Mishra]

The Night Monster by Sushree Mishra and illustrated by Sanket Pethkar is, without a doubt, one of the most brilliant children’s books I’ve ever read. In truth, I don’t quite know what age group I would recommend it to as there is a level of deceit to the story, but ultimately I think it is one of the more beautiful book’s I’ve had the pleasure to come across. It is all down to the relationship between the young girl and her little brother.

The Night Monster tells the story of a young boy, Avi, who is afraid of the dark and his caring sister who helps him overcome his fears. Each night he struggles to sleep, certain that there is a monster outside preparing to attack. He voices his fears and worries to his elder sister and she proceeds to give him advice.

First, she tells him to draw the monster and lock the monster away in the box. Soon begins a letter correspondence between Avi and the monster about all the things the monster does that scares him. The monster, in turn, tells Avi that it is merely the night and is not trying to scare him at all. And eventually, young Avi learns to no longer fear the night.

The illustrations in this book are gorgeous throughout, at times mimicking the dark and scary nature in which Avi sees the night. Avi and his sister are beautifully depicted and adorable. While it is not bright and colorful, the artwork is still quite engaging, though perhaps for an older child rather than a young one.

All in all, The Night Monster is a book I absolutely adored and one that I would be happy to recommend to many.

I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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