Go Away, Big Green Monster!
Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley takes about 1 minute to read aloud (91 words, about 1 sentence a page), and it lands best with children aged 2-5.
Measured read-aloud timeabout 1 minute
- Words
- 91
- Sentences a page
- 1
- Re-read tolerance
- 5/5still fine on the fortieth reading
- Vocabulary
- 2/5everyday words
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The useful verdict
Why Go Away, Big Green Monster! works
Die-cut pages build a monster's face feature by feature, then the child orders each feature away - 'GO AWAY, big green face!' - until the page is black again. It hands a frightened child the controls, which is why it is the book to reach for when the monster-under-the-bed phase starts, not the one to avoid.
Before you buy it
Some two-year-olds baulk at the assembled face on the middle spread. If that happens, start at the back and read it forwards - the monster disappearing first, then appearing - and it stops being a problem.
Themes: Halloween, monsters, fear, colours, die-cut.
Same shape, new story
Books like Go Away, Big Green Monster!
Matched by length, refrain, sentence density, and listener—not just subject.
Skeleton Hiccupsabout 1 minute · 5/5 re-read
The Color Monster: A Story About Emotionsabout 3 minutes · 4/5 re-read
Where the Wild Things Areabout 3 minutes · 5/5 re-read
Press Hereabout 2.5 minutes · 5/5 re-read
Where's My Mummy?about 4 minutes · 4/5 re-read
Triangleabout 3 minutes · 4/5 re-read
Leonardo, the Terrible Monsterabout 2.5 minutes · 4/5 re-read
Straight answers
Questions parents ask about Go Away, Big Green Monster!
- How long does it take to read Go Away, Big Green Monster! aloud?
- About 1 minute at an unhurried pace, from a word count of 91. Reading it fast shaves perhaps a third off; stopping for questions on every page can double it.
- What age is Go Away, Big Green Monster! actually for?
- Ages 2-5 in our testing, which is narrower than the publisher's range. With 1 sentence a page and vocabulary at 2 out of 5, it asks for that much attention span and no more.
- Does Go Away, Big Green Monster! survive being read on repeat?
- Yes - this is one of the few that is still fine on the fortieth reading, which is why it scores 5 out of 5 with us.
- Is Go Away, Big Green Monster! a good book for a child who will not sit still?
- It helps that it has a refrain a child can join in with, and it asks the child questions to answer out loud. Those three features are what keep a wriggling toddler listening, far more than the subject matter does.