Our 8 year old son started to ‘see’ monsters this year. So instead of telling him that there are no such thing, I asked him to draw me a picture of this monster that he saw.

I used the drawing of his monster as his shadow in this piece…

I am happy to report that it’s been a while since his last ‘monster-sighting’…xx

p.s It also helped me as a parent to read the book by Marina Warner: “No go the bogeyman”, while trying to understand what is happening. Here is some quotes from that book:

“The children’s word ‘scary’ covers responses raging from pure terror to sheer delight and the condition of being scared is becoming increasingly sought after not only as a source of pleasure but as a means of strengthening the sense of being alive, of having command over self.”

“The toys, films and storybooks of today’s children’s culture reflects like two way mirrors our expectations of children and our image of ourselves, in potentia.”

“Monsters have become children’s best friends, alter egos, inner selves.”