Would You Like To Play Hide and Seek with Lovable, Furry Old Grover?
The Monster at the End of This Book: Starring Lovable, Furry Old Grover (or simply The Monster at the End of This Book) is a children'spicture book based on the television series Sesame Street and starring Grover. It was written by series writer and producer Jon Stone and illustrated by Michael Smollin, and originally published by Little Golden Books in 1971. It has since become the all-time bestselling Sesame Street book title and has been cited as a modern classic of children's literature.
Plot
Having read the book's title, Grover is horrified to learn that there is a monster at the end of the book. He immediately begs the reader not to finish the book so as to avoid encountering the monster. As the book continues, Grover constructs a series of obstacles in hopes of preventing the reader from reading further, but none of them work (mostly because they are merely illustrations, not actual obstacles).
Near the end of the book, Grover makes one last frantic plea not to turn the final page, only to discover on that page, in a surprise self-referential plot twist, that the monster is himself. He laughs and claims that he knew it all along, but the reader can see that he is quite embarrassed by the whole ordeal.
Publication
Jon Stone was involved in the creation and early development of the show Sesame Street. He reportedly wrote The Monster at the End of This Book around the end of 1970 or early the following year while on a flight across the United States to California. At the time, Sesame Street was airing its second season. Michael Smollin, a former advertising executive, illustrated the book. The Monster at the End of This Book was first published in 1971 by Little Golden Books. Copies first sold for 39 cents. The musician Christopher Cerf, who wrote songs for Sesame Street later told The Washington Post that upon reading the manuscript he said "Oh my god, this is wonderful".[1]
Originally written to introduce young children to the concept of reading a book from beginning to end, The Monster at the End of This Book is the bestselling Sesame Street book title of all time.[citation needed]
Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children".[2] In 2012, it was ranked number ten among the "Top 100 Picture Books" in a survey published by School Library Journal.[3]
As of January 2021 the book had sold almost 13 million copies, making it one of the ten bestselling Little Golden Books. The author Danny Freedman wrote a column that month in The Washington Post describing the book as "an unlikely constant, at a rarefied height" and felt that "the book’s long tail of influence is out of proportion with its 24 pages and its cardboard cover devoid of medallions."[1]
An expert on children's literature Leonard S. Marcus described the book as an important point in children's fiction as it led to further innovation in the field, inspiring other self-aware works of literature like The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. According to Philip Nel, a professor of children's literature, the book's publication method and connection to television might be the reason it has attracted relatively little scholarly attention.[1]
Sequels and adaptations
Two direct sequels were produced, also written by Stone and Illustrated by Smollin. Would You Like To Play Hide and Seek with Lovable, Furry Old Grover? (ISBN978-0394832920), was published in 1976, while Another Monster at the End of This Book: Starring Lovable, Furry Old Grover, and Equally Lovable, Furry Little Elmo (ISBN0-375-80562-1), was published in 1996. The latter features Grover now coping with Elmo actually encouraging the reader to turn the pages out of sheer curiosity.
On January 30, 2013, the Sesame StreetTwitter account adapted the story to the popular social media network, again starring Grover with some impromptu assistance from Wil Wheaton.[4]
A season four episode of Supernatural is called "The Monster at the End of This Book". In it, lead characters Dean and Sam discover a prophet has made a book series about their lives, including events to come.
