There's a Nightmare in My Closet

Ordered this book because my 3 year old started having nightmares and this book was well rated. Luckily I read the book before presenting it to her because she currently has no concept of something scary in her closet and I imagine this book would have created a new fear in her. I also thought it was weird that the child went to bed with a toy gun and a mini cannon. I know it's a toy gun, but I don't want my daughter to feel like she needs to equip herself with weapons to protect herself from bad dreams.

It's "Patton" for children. No really, it is! Having just finished reviewing "Swimmy", the 1963 predecessor to "Finding Nemo", it seems fitting that I should also review "There's a Nightmare In My Closet", the 1968 predecessor to "Monsters, Inc." Looking like nothing so much as an alternative, "Where the Wild Things Are", Mercer Mayer's late 60s concoction is a tale of how a small boy stands up to his fears and finds them not to be as scary as he had thought.
Told in the first person, the story tells how a young boy, outfitted in those cute footie pajamas with the flap in the back, used to be scared of the nightmare in his closet before going to bed. Each night the boy would close the closet door then hide under his sheets. That all changes the night the boy pops on his general's helmet and outfits himself with a toy canon, toy soldiers, and a pop gun to rid himself of his nightmare once and for all. Sure enough, when the lights are out the monster comes creeping and perches on the foot of the bed but the boy is ready. He threatens it to leave and when he shoots his pop gun the nightmare bursts into tears. It's really a pitiful sight. Relenting, the boy tucks the monster in his bed, closes the closet door, and snuggles down to share the bed with his nightmare. As the boy ends the tale with, "I suppose there's another nightmare in my closet, but my bed's not big enough for three", sure enough, another monster sticks out his head and smiles winningly at the reader whilst the two others sleep blissfully.
When you think of all the mediocre monster books out there, this story really is remarkable. Compare this book to "Go Away, Big Green Monster", for example. There's just no comparison. And for its 1968 publication date, the story really feels very contemporary. The adept pen and ink illustrations combine successfully with the no-nonsense tone of the narration to produce a real class act. The boy in the pictures really does resemble All in all, this is just a nice story about confronting your fears and finding that sometimes they're not as bad as you think. You have to love the illustrations as well. The single shot of the nightmare tucked in the bed gesturing worriedly at the open closet door is so very sad. Any child that's a fan of the aforementioned "Monsters, Inc." will love this story as well. A sweet tale with a lovely moral. I just can't recommend it enough.

I feel like this book was spectacular. To begin with, the monster in the book was funny. Another reason why I like this book because it taught me to not be scared. Lastly, I like that the little boy onesie was cute on him. All in all, I think this book is amazing for babies and up.

Without much forethought, I pulled this book out of the closet to read to my nearly 4-year-old. Despite the child's unfortunate use of a weapon, a toy gun, to scare the monster/nightmare, this might have been an amusing way to talk about talk about 'things that bump in the night'. Unfortunately, in our house, it created worries about 'nightmares'. My child has no clue what a nightmare is, just that it's something she should be afraid of, causing an anxiety about falling asleep. After several discussions about the fact that a nightmare is a bad dream (like my childhood nightmare of losing my blankie), and how to handle them, my daughter continues to ask, "Mama, what color your nightmare?" English is my daughter's second language, making abstract concepts a bit more difficult to grasp. I wish I'd considered that before reading the book. Please don't read this to your child unless you're sure she/he can understand the message.

A rather cute book designed to help kids cope with their fear of monsters (under their beds, in the closets, wherever) in a cutesy way.
The illustrations are mediocre but children would laugh their way through about the monsters. The text is very simple (a line per page) and budding readers would appreciate that.
However, parental guidance should be given about the use of guns/rifles to deal with things the kids may not like. That point aside, a worthwhile book to help your kids get interested in reading.

My child (2 yrs) absolutely loves this book. We read it twice a night, she has memorized the lines even! We have a vast selection of children's books at home but this is her go-to book before bed. We have others by this author but for some reason she doesn't care for those as much.

My child absolutely loves this book! I have never been more pleased with a children's bedtime story. The illustrations are fantastic as well as the little boys approach to nightmares. I highly recommend "There's a Nightmare in My Closet," to parents that have a little one with night-time worries. Don't let this jewel of a story pass you by!!!

My 3 yr old grandson was going through a trumatic period during the summer and was having trouble sleeping. I checked this book out of the library because I remembered how much his father enjoyed the book as a child. Well I got tired of the book very quickly because I had to read it three or four times each night. I bought the book so he could "read" the story to me. However, his favorite part of the story is when the nightmare cries (which I do with great drama) so he's not as happy reading it to me as he is having it read by me. It's one of his favorites and he still likes to have it read to him before he goes to sleep.

A great theme that has recently been reinforced with "Monsters, Inc". Accessible, non-scary illustrations that, like most of Mayer's stuff, are very much through a kids'-eye view. Also gives kids the idea of power over something scary, that they can have control over their interactions with imaginary beasties.

MCN

As a children's librarian, I find this book touches my young patrons deeply, and I have shared it often. A Jungian therapist recommended it for me to read! The book can be an effective tool to deal with the subject of fear, whether we are young or old.

When my daughter was two she quickly memorized this book and created and repeatedly used a play on words that tickled her pink. I've read it a zillion times to her and others and am prompted with the word, "again" when I am done. The pictures are very detailed and tell a story all their own.

I recently bought this book for another 2 year old who would choose this book over all the others on the shelf. My daughter is now 21. This book is timeless.

I thought thisbook was good because of how the little boy in the story faced his fears and overcame his fears of monsters. When children read this book they'll learn to overcome their fear like the kid in the book.

A number of years ago, this title was included as one of the selections in a monthly children's book club. Thankfully I read it before reading it to my 4 year old daughter. The content, I felt, would not only add credence to the "reality" of any scary nightmares that she may have had, or initiated the notion of bad dreams/nightmares. What was worse was the "cure" for the little boy dealing with his nightmares is shooting them with a gun! Now if that doesn't give a young, impressionable mind the go-ahead to get daddy's/mommy's gun and use it against imaginary things (or maybe even not so imaginary things) that scare him/her... Shame on the author, editor and publisher! I wrote a letter to accompany the book that was promptly returned.

If you're into reading stories to your child that include violence as an option for solving problems, then this is an awesome book. If you're not into guns, then I'd stay away from it. There's an image of a gun on nearly every page, and the boy references shooting the monster in the text...

Not Appropriate. I'm shocked it got accepted for publication.
It puts unnecessary ideas in a childs mind. its too violent and the illustrations are too graphic. Would never recommend this book to anyone.