“Good Night MyBrownBaby”: Lane Fredrickson’s ‘Monster Trouble’ (VIDEO)

 

Here’s the thing: little girls are not fraidy cats and they love their beauty rest and when it’s dark, they want to sleep, not mess around with loud, rude monsters. But poor little Winifred Schnitzel has to suffer the insufferable, until she puts her clever mind to work in the sweet book, “Monster Trouble.” Here’s what I love about Winifred’s story in “Monster Trouble”: she’s adorable, strong, brave and clever—all the things we wish for our girlpies as they navigate girlhood. That’s what makes Lane Fredrickson’s gorgeous book so infectious: Lane gives her character muscle, mettle and spirit in spades, and Michael Robertson’s illustrations make this stand-out picture book downright lickable. In fact, it was Winifred’s face, all chocolate and round and wide-eyed that caught my eye in the bookstore and made me bring “Monster Trouble” home.

If you missed the reading, or you just want to watch it with your babies again, the video is up top—just push play. Every reading we do from here on out will live here on MyBrownBaby and on the MyBrownBaby YouTube page, so you’ll have instant access to these incredible bedtime stories for your babies.

“Good Night MyBrownBaby” is a part of the MyBrownBaby mission to help introduce parents to great books for kids, featuring kids that look like ours. I figure if we help our beautiful babies fall in love with good literature early, they’ll love it forever. And if we support Black authors who celebrate our babies’ humanity in literature, we’ll be creating a want and need for more books just like them—a want and need publishing companies like mine will respond to.

As I mentioned in the Good Night MyBrownBaby “Monster Trouble” reading, those who shared the video on FB qualified for a giveaway, this time for either of these two gifts: one of the upcoming books on my new children’s book imprint, Denene Millner Books, or a copy of “Mary Had a Little Glam,” a new book illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton, the illustrator of my upcoming book, “Early Sunday Morning.”

Congratulations to:

• Selassie Fynn, who wins a copy of “Mary Had a Little Glam.”
• Ekene Ono, who wins a copy of my new parenting book, “MyBrownBaby: the Joys and Challenges of Raising African American Children.”

Congrats!

If you and your babies loved “Monster Trouble,” cop a copy here or pick it up at your local bookstore or library.

And don’t forget to check in for our next Good Night MyBrownBaby Facebook Live reading, featuring me, Denene Millner, reading “Jazzy Miz Mozetta,” by Brenda C. Roberts and illustrated by the incredible fine artist and illustrator, Frank Morrison.

I’ll be reading live from the MyBrownBaby Facebook Fans page on Tuesday, March 28, at 7:30 p.m. sharp!

RSVP with your email addy or phone number to goodnightstories@mybrownbaby.com, and I’ll send out an invitation/be there reminder so you can get your babies together and ready for the reading—which will be really helpful so that I’m not sitting there reading to a wall. That would not be cute.

See you at the next Good Night MyBrownBaby!

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To enhance your child’s reading experience:

• Have your child write a story or draw a picture about how she’d make rude monsters keep their distance.
• Make one of these monster treats with your child.
• Help your child make a super cute monster doll to cuddle and kiss.