There's a Nightmare in My Closet

Who among us wasn’t afraid of nightmares hiding in the closet? I certainly was, and wish I had this book when I was little. A little boy decides to confront his nightmare when it emerges from the closet; he waits for it with a toy gun. He frightens the nightmare, who begins to cry, and then the little boy has to comfort the nightmare. He tucks him in bed with him and they go to sleep.

Illustrations by Mercer Mayer are adorable, and make the nightmare into a believably scary thing at first, but then just a cute cuddly monster who is very much like the boy, needing reassurance.

The wonderful message is that everything is not always what it seems, and sometimes what or who we are scared of might be just as scared of us. When the unknown show more becomes known, our whole idea of the world can change. show less

This book might have been a little threatening to a bad-dreamer like my younger self, had Mayer not foreshadowed heavily. "There used to be a nightmare in my closet." A creeping sense of dread comes over the reader as we anticipate the nightmare's emergence from the closet, and the confrontation which our main character seems intent on creating. But, at the moment of greatest tension, we realize that the nightmare is an oafish crybaby. Our main character makes a friend, and bad-dreamers might be one tiny step closer to sleeping with the lights off.

In this book, the child was scared of the monster in his closet and he overcame these fears. The closing of the door to me is a comparison to how we hide our fears in life instead of facing them head-on. The boy gains confidence and he stands up for himself I think this is an important lesson that is portrayed in this story. It can also teach not to judge a person or thing by appearance; they can be different then you expect, just as the friendly monster at the end of the story. The emotions of the characters are shown in the ending as smiles on their faces.

There’s A Nightmare in my Closet is one of my childhood favorites I plan on sharing with my child. More than anything I adore Mercer Mayer’s graphic illustrations but I also think the story is a timeless tale for children facing their fears of the dark and being alone at bedtime.

The plot involves a little boy recounting his decision to confront the monster-esque “nightmare” creature living in his closet. As the creature creeps towards him he waits ready with his toy cannon, gun and soldiers all lined up in bed and eventually shoots the nightmare leading his to cry like a little boy and, in effect, become humanized and not scary. The boy ends up comforting the creature and sharing his bed with him in the end.

I love this story show more because every child (and even adults) must face their fear of the dark and how wild one’s imagination can run when the lights go out. This tale, like the recent movie Monsters Inc, presents monsters in a humorous manner, providing some solace to the young readers mind before bed. The pen and ink illustrations are gloriously detailed, and the subdued color palate of red, brown and blue allow the characterizations of the timid monster and feisty boy to stand out. I hope the fact hat the boy is using a toy gun has not kept it from remaining a classic picture book in the homes and imaginations of many. show less

This is a cute book to help your child address their fear of what is in the closet at night. It is funny and sweet and will leave your child feeling safe. Not much use in a classroom other than for fun.

In my option I liked, the book “There’s A Nightmare In My Closet”, because the book is funny and pulls a slight twist at the end of the book. The book’s beginning grabs the reader’s attention with the narrator stating, ‘There was something in my closet”. I liked how the author ‘shows’ how scary the monster is, without actually showing it. The author uses the narrator, the young boy, to show how the monster is fighting the child. Readers become curious as to what this unseen monster looks like. A twist comes in near the end of the book, after the boy has drawn the monster out of the closet. Instead of the boy being frightened of the monster, the monster fears the boy. I liked this twist, because it is both funny and show more unexpected it. Monsters are not usually associated with being afraid of humans. I enjoyed the ending of the book, as the boy had to calm the monster down, so that it’s crying wouldn’t wake up his parents. It was a surprise to find that the boy was more worried about his parents waking up, then a monster laying in his bed. Overall, I ended this book from beginning to end. show less

I really enjoyed this book because the characters were well developed. This book is about a young boy who wakes up to find a "nightmare" at the foot of his bed. The nightmare is a goofy looking monster with green skin and blue polka dots everywhere. The boy tries to scare his nightmare away but instead learns that the nightmare is just looking for a friend. The boy mentions, "My nightmare began to cry...he wouldn't stop crying so I took him by the hand and tucked him in bed." The illustration shows the boy and the nightmare sleeping in the same bed "protecting" each other from other nightmares. This big idea behind this book is that you do not need to be afraid of nightmares and you can get over your fears by facing them.