Emily Grace and the What-Ifs: A Story for Children About Nighttime Fears

Emily Grace is ready for bed. She brushes her teeth, jumps in bed—quick, so that nothing gets her!—and gets under the covers. She turns the light off, and all the what-ifs start. “What-ifs” are thoughts that look like scary monsters coming from under the bed. She thinks of a rhino that could get into her room, or a lizard that could lick her face (this one would scare my mommy), or her eyebrows flying away (this is really too funny). She is so scared. But then she sees all the nice things in her room: her stuffed bunny, her teapot, her pink tutu, her nightlight. She realizes that she can also think nice thoughts. She snuggles with her bunny and thinks of building sand castles at the beach, and that her breathing can go slowly up the ceiling and down to the ground. And so she falls asleep.

This is a nice book. I can see why Emily Grace is scared, I am too. I always think of floor monsters that could get my feet if I ever got down the floor. I relax only when I snuggle with mom or dad.