Harry and the Terrible Whatzit

Ah, the fear of the monsters that lurk in the basement, under the bed and in the closet has truly met its match. Balancing a steady rise of suspense with an underlying sense that everything will turn out well, the story explores the fear that Harry has of his basement. He knows that something frightening lives down there. Harry can tell just by the smell. Then, one day his mother needs a jar of pickles and heads toward the basement stairs. Harry warns her. Don't go down there but no, his mother never believes him and down she goes. Harry waits. She doesn't come back. Oh dear. This is the moment we have all never wanted to confront yet we are fascinated and truly hoping that Harry will summon his courage and that we will be able to go down into the basement with him to see just exactly what those monsters look like and to finally know, truly know, what will happen to us ... our worst fears realized. Harry, armed with a broom, takes the monsters on because as we and Harry suspected, they truly are there. This is a step by step process this battle between the monsters and Harry (and us). And most thrillingly we find that as Harry faces his fears and gives them a whack or two with the broom, they start to get smaller. Imagine it... having power over the fear. So be gone whatzits of the world. This is a great read aloud for children who have fear and a wonderful therapeutic book for grown up children who hold their own fears.