There's an Alligator under My Bed

Mercer Mayer's book about a little boy who decides to get rid of the alligator under his bed can only be described by one word - adorable. From the vividly-colored yet simple illustrations to the cute little boy's idea to lure the monster out, the entire book made me smile.

I absolutely loved that the main character fought back against the alligator under his bed. Since many children, including myself, believed that there were monsters hiding in their room, it was refreshing to see a child take matters into his own hands.While he did call on his parents for help in locating the monster, when they were unable to find anything, he was determined to fix the problem himself. "It was up to me. I just had to do something about that alligator," the little boy says to himself as he carefully scoots out of bed to set an alligator trap.

I have to say, though, that my absolute favorite part of the book was the final page where the illustration depicted the note that the main character left for his dad which read, "DEAR DAD THERE IS AN ALLIGATOR IN THE GURAGGE GARAGE. IF YOU NEED HELP WAKE ME UP. WARNING. BE CAREFUL." I found it particularly endearing that included in the illustration were the chair the little boy had used to tape up the note, the crayons he had used to write it, along with extra paper, a pair of scissors, and a roll of tape.

This book would be great not only for a teacher to read aloud to a class but also for beginning readers to read aloud to a teacher or a parent. Because each page has only a phrase or a simple sentence on it, most of which are accompanied by corresponding illustrations, beginning readers could more easily read this book on their own. I also think that this book could be used to encourage children to try things for themselves and to think creatively about solving problems.