Benita loves to read in bed but keeps getting interrupted by a whistling Tunche, a scary Supay and other spooky creatures from Peruvian lore. To the creatures’ disbelief, Benita is so absorbed by her book that she’s not the least bit scared of them. This humorous celebration of bedtime reading puts a global twist on taking the “scary” out of monsters.
Key Selling Points:
MONSTERS: This celebration of bedtime reading puts a global twist on taking the “scary” out of monsters, as a girl rebuffs various scary creatures.
GLOBAL: Introduces creatures from Peruvian lore.
HUMOR: The creatures are comically unable to scare the protagonist, who is deeply absorbed in her book.
AUTHENTIC REPRESENTATION: Written by a Peruvian-born author Mariana Llanos (Run Little Chaski) and illustrating team, Cocoretto.
BEDTIME READING: Celebrates the power and joy of reading, especially at bedtime.
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING: The main character displays bravery and confidence.
More Details
Product Dimensions:10.00 x 9.75 inches
Page Count:32 pages
Age Range:Ages 4-9 years
Awards & Accolades
Pura Belpré Honor Book, 2024
JLG Gold Standard Selection!
Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best books of 2023
New York Public Library’s Best Books for Kids in Spanish 2023
About the Contributors
Written by - Mariana Llanos
Mariana Llanos is a Peruvian-born writer of children’s literature. Her picture book ‘Run, Little Chaski!’ won the 2022 Oklahoma Book Award and was listed among Bank Street’s Best Books of 2021. The Spanish edition, ‘¡Corre, Pequeño Chaski!’, was a 2022 Alma Flor Ada Award winner and a Premio Campoy-Ada Honorable Mention. Mariana is a SCBWI member and currently serves as the Inclusion and Diversity Chair for their Oklahoma Chapter. When she’s not writing, she enjoys baking, spending time with her children, and visiting schools to ignite the love for reading.
Illustrated by - Cocoretto .
Cocoretto is a Peruvian-born couple and team, Ivan and Natalia. They are illustrators, authors and designers with backgrounds in fine arts, graphic design and photography. With their strong graphic sense and bright, saturated colors, they like to build compelling and relatable environments for their work. They feel grateful to have the chance to make children around the world giggle and smile with their many books and translations. Ivan and Natalia live and work in the noisy city of Lima, the capital of Peru.
