Pog by Lyn Lee illustrated by Kim Gamble

Did you know that right now you are older than you have ever been? Pog knows this and he is fond of reminding anyone who cares to listen. 

"I'm two metres tall and older than I have ever been ... I'm not afraid of anything."  

It is true that he is two meters tall but Pog is afraid of one thing - he is afraid of children. 

Pog is the middle child of this monster family. There is his mum, who is as busy as a dung beetle, his dad who is often away on mysterious business, his grandmother, a baby called Bedlam and the perfectly named older brother Vandal. 

Pog has been enjoying life but now, like all young children, he must head off to school. His mum insists he must walk with Vandal. Pog is sure he can walk alone until his brother mentions they might meet children along the way. 

"Pog was shocked. He thought children only came out when it was dark, like a night mist, or a bad dream." 

Pog is in fact so shocked he sticks with Vandal all day. On the way home Pog hears a sound in the bushes. He tells Vandal it might be children. 

"Don't be stupid.' growled Vandal. 'There's no such thing." 

But this child is quite real and Vandal flees down the road leaving Pog to sort out the matter. On looking behind the bushes he finds a little boy who is having a bad dream and needs to wake up. Pog takes Tom home and puts him in the wardrobe (that is where children hide waiting to scare good little monsters!) then Pog goes to bed and dreams Tom back home. 

This wonderful picture book Pog is a delight from beginning to end. Kim Gamble supplies perfect illustrations of Pog and his family along with an amazing wardrobe and Lyn Lee gives her young readers the experience of a deeply rich vocabulary with words like crooned, pout, flummoxed and cowered. If anyone has ever said "Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" to you then you simply must read this joyous book tonight! I am sure you can tell it is a real favourite of mine. 

The final lines are especially wonderful:

"Pog was as brave as a barrel full of worms. 'I am two metres tall and older than I ever have been,' he said. And he was never, ever afraid of anything again. Well, not very much."

I have discovered in the US edition of Pog it says: “I am six and a half feet tall and older than I have ever been,” This is so funny and to me it does not have the same rhythm of our original text. And of course the US text has changed mum to mom!

Here are a set of teaching notes from Scholastic. You could follow this up by reading I'm coming to get you by Tony Ross and the monster baby series by Pat Hutchins starting with The Very Worst Monster then look for Where's the Baby.