All posts by kathymacmillan
Read This!: MONSTER HANDS by Karen Kane, Jonaz McMillan, and Dion MBD
Monster Hands by Karen Kane, Jonaz McMillan, and Dion MBD
Summary: When nighttime comes, Milo has a problem—he’s convinced there’s a monster under his bed! Luckily, his best friend Mel knows just what to do—scare the monster more than the monster scares you! So using shadow puppets on the wall, Mel and Milo make monster hands that roar, chomp and even laugh to scare the monster away. But uh oh! What if the monster thinks this is funny! This is NOT funny! Milo has an idea to show the monster who’s boss once and for all. Together Milo and Mel hatch a plan to scare the monster away forever. But in the end, they discover the true cure to a monster problem is a best friend who will stand and face it with you.
What do you do when there’s a scary monster under the bed? Scare it away, of course! Milo and his friend Mel communicate in American Sign Language from their neighboring windows, sharing ideas about what to do with that monster. This clever story features rhyming vocabulary in American Sign Language, and invites readers to sign along to scare that monster away. This book would be a terrific complement to interactive storytime classics like Ed Emberley’s Go Away, Big Green Monster! Check out the educator resource guide with more background information on the signs in the book here.
MONSTER HANDS is out now.
SHE SPOKE TOO is an Imadjinn Award finalist!
SHE SPOKE TOO is one of three finalists for the Imadjinn Awards in the category of Children’s Books! The Imadjinn Awards are a comprehensive series of juried writing awards that recognize outstanding achievement in a broad range of genres and categories. The 2025 award winners will be announced on Saturday, July 19th, 2025.
Celebrate Women’s History All Year Round
In 1987, the United States Congress declared March as Women’s History Month. But women’s history—also known as just plain history—has been around as long as there have been women, even if it wasn’t always recorded, shared, or taught in schools. Here are some tips for weaving women’s history into conversations with kids every month of the year – see my full article at Familius.com.
Have Swag Will Travel
I’m honored to be featured over at author Dawn Babb Prochovnic’s blog as part of her series “Have Swag Will Travel,” sharing some of my top tips for planning library visits and webinars. Check it out here!
More posts from the archives featuring Dawn Babb Prochovnic:
- Guest Post: Garden-themed Signing Storytime with Dawn Babb Prochovnic
- Read This!: Lucy’s Blooms by Dawn Babb Prochovnic
- Signs and Rhymes: An Interview with Dawn Babb Prochovnic




