Countdown to Halloween: Go Away Big Green Monster Book and Craft

One fun Halloween book that we own that I have yet to share with our blog audience is Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley.  It's a unique book because there aren't really illustrations in it, just shapes of body parts that make up the Big Green Monster's face.  The reader makes the big green monster appear and "go away" by turning the pages of the book - each page adds or takes away a piece of the monster's face. 

Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley

Baby bookworm really enjoys this book, and it's a great, short lesson in body parts and colors.  And, of course, it's perfect for this time of the year.  You can also buy a storytelling kit to go along with the book from Lakeshore Learning - and we borrowed this one here from baby bookworm's Nana who is a preschool teacher. 

As a little craft to go along with this book, we made our very own monster puppet.  Here's what you'll need to make one with your baby bookworm.

1. A colored paper plate
2. Yarn cut up into small pieces
3. A large popcicle stick
4. Neon paper with various kinds of eyes, and mouths drawn on (see ours below)
5. pom poms or construction paper (or any other "decorations") for a nose, paws, ears, etc.
6. Glue
7. Scissors

I told baby bookworm we were going to make our very own monster, and that she could make the monster look however she wanted.  I showed her the various parts of the face that were drawn on the neon paper, and then asked her what "kind" of monster she would like.  She exclaimed she wanted a mean monster, so I cut out the mean monster eyes and let her glue them on the paper plate.  Then she chose a mouth to also glue on.  We used a pom pom for a nose and construction paper for ears. Lastly, she glued the hair on her monster, followed by the popcicle stick on the back of the plate as a handle.

I tried to let baby bookworm tell me where each part of the face belonged, and I helped her squeeze the glue on the paper plate in that spot.  Baby bookworm knew where to put the eyes (although notice they are upside down), nose, and mouth all on her own!  Of course, we had practiced earlier with the puppet from Lakeshore.

Here's how her monster turned out. 

She paraded around the house with her monster puppet (which she was quite proud of) while I played the song Monster Mash. Cute, fun, and educational!