Your Pal Mo Willems Presents Leonardo the Terrible Monster

Bibliographic Data:
Williams, Mo. 2005. Your Pal Mo Willems Presents Leonardo the Terrible Monster. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.
ISBN: 0786852941

Summary:
Leonardo wants to be a horrible monster, just like the other monsters he admires.  However, Leonardo can not scare anyone.  He decides to research to find the perfect kid and "scare the tuna salad out of him!"  His research leads him to a boy named Sam.  Leonardo thinks that he is finally successful after Sam begins to cry.  He soon realizes he has nothing to do with Sam's crying, as Sam tells him a list of horrible events that have taken place that day.  Leonardo then decides that being a friend to Sam would be much more rewarding than scaring him.

Critical Analysis:
Children of all ages can relate to both characters in this story.  Sam is having a day in which everything seems to be going wrong from trouble with his siblings to having a bird poo on him.  Children can relate to having a day like that and just not knowing what to do.  Willems shows the frustration and overwhelming feelings Sam is having by overwhelming the page with text.  Children get a sense of how Sam is feeling when they see and read that page.  They also can relate to Leonardo, as the outsider monster who just wants to be like everyone else.  The story teaches children that they do not have to be like everyone else to enjoy themselves.  Mo Willems show children that sometimes all people need is a friend to get them through a rough patch.  Children also have time to process and think on the pages that have no words and only illustrations.  The reader gets a chance to think about what is going on in the picture.

Review Excerpts:
Horn Book review: "Willems's story plays out like a theatrical performance on tall, uncluttered, muted-color pages."

Connections:
Students can read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day By Judith Viorst to compare Alexander from that story and Sam from this story.
Students could write about a time they just needed a friend.
Students could draw themselves as a monster and explain their special way of scaring the "tuna salad" out of someone.
Students make a poster advertising themselves as a friend.  They could list all the things that make them a great friend.  They could make a Glogster,  instead of paper poster, if computers are available.