Review: Yamboo the Closet Monster: A Bedtime Story to Help Preschoolers Conquer Their Fears by Alma J. Wilson

Title: Yamboo The Closet Monster

Author: Alma J. Wilson
Published: July 8, 2015
Pages: 12
Genre: Children ages 4? on up
Review: ebook provided by author
Buy Links: Amazon, Amazon.uk 

At bedtime, Kevin is frightened when Yamboo comes out of the closet. He calls for Mama to help, but she doesn't believe in monsters. Luckily Cornelius, sent from the Realm of Fairy Guards, comes to the rescue. He defeats Yamboo in fierce battle, and is sent away. Kevin can sleep peacefully now, with Cornelius standing guard.

We received this book to give an honest review.

So I thought this would be a good read with A as she is 4 years old. This did not go well for her, the monster Yamboo really scared her and she told me not to read it again. Even though we get Cornelius from the Realm of the Fairy Guards to help defeat Yamboo and send him away this was just not good for A. Now I read it to K who is 10 and he though Yamboo looked really cool with his red and black coloring and how he looked like a snake but also like a crocodile so I guess that is a plus for the older kid of mine. 

Kevin is a young boy who has an imagination something all of us has and his imagination comes to life at bedtime, where he thinks that there is a monster in his room. His mother of course doesn't see it but Kevin does.  With the help of Cornelius we see how Kevin defeats his fear of Yamboo and can get to bed peacefully. Do I think this book would be good for preschoolers? This would be something you would have to judge yourself. For me my preschooler though the Yamboo monster was scary but my son did not.  

Overall it was a decent read that if K would like we will read again. 

Hi! First, I'll state the blatantly obvious. I'm a writer because I love to write. I have a passion words and language, and how we stick them together to express our most basic emotions. When I asked myself that all-important question, "What do I want to write?", I settled on children's fiction because....well, because I'm still a child at heart. Part of me never grew up, and I like it that way. It helps me relate to my audience. And it makes my work richly rewarding.
As for education, I've taken two courses from the Institute of Children's Literature--their basic course that teaches you how to write for, and market to, magazines; and the follow-up course that teaches the same for the children's book market.

I've even got an article published! In the February 2011 issue of Boy's Quest, you'll find the piece I wrote about the sentinels at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They paid me enough to take myself out for a celebratory dinner. But that first published article wasn't about the money. It was about the clip. Some publishers don't even look at your work unless you've got a lot of experience under your belt. So with that article, I officially started my collection of clips. Yay me!
I wrote two books to satisfy the requirements for these classes. In the first, I used an assignment as an excuse to work through the mourning process after my beloved dog passed away. Remember, I'm a writer. Hence, when life presented a problem, I wrote about it. I believe the result is charming.

I've been told the other book is autobiographical. That really surprised me. When I started out, I honestly thought I would be writing about cats. And in truth, I probably did. But when I asked myself another all-important question, "What's the conflict of this story?", those cats faded into the background, and took on a bellwether role. They provide a solid foundation for the protagonist, and answer his most pressing question, without drawing too much attention to themselves. To be honest, I'm quite proud of myself, the way that story came together.
Working through these projects has taught me a few things about my art. First off, it's healing. The written word has power to address, and settle, powerful emotions in a totally safe environment. When a child opens a book and watches his favorite fictional characters work through bigger-than-him problems, he finds within himself the power to conquer his own fears.
I also learned that kids are smart. The need to simplify vocabulary is not a mandate to "dumb down" the content of their reading material. Today's kids deal with some pretty tough challenges, and I believe their books should face them directly, with courage and optimism.
And so I write, loving every minute of it.