The Monster Who Ate Darkness

There is a primitive fear of the dark in all of us, for which we all need strategies to cope.

Dunbar revisits this need by transforming the monster that many children fear lurks beneath their bed in the dark. Her monster is there, but, far from threatening Jo-Jo at bedtime, it seems to help by eating up the darkness.

However, its appetite is insatiable and eventually it eats up all the darkness, making it impossible for the birds and animals of the night to survive, and for Jo-Jo to sleep peacefully.

Through the text and Liao’s powerful, entertaining and reassuring illustrations, readers will realise that darkness is as necessary as light, and that it can be welcome and comforting.