Fear, Born of Prejudice, has Found a New Face
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by: Linda D. Meyer
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Word Count: 347
What would you do if a monster with pointed sharp teeth, blue skin and green hair popped out of your kid’s closet one night? What would your kid do? Scream for help, I’ll bet – and rightly so with such a scary sight confronting him! But what if that blue skinned, green haired monster with sharp pointed teeth was your kid? And what if the thing that jumped from his closet had big blue eyes, orange hair, freckles and, ooooh, big white teeth showing in a grin plastered on his face? Wouldn’t the monster kid, too, have a right to be frightened?
This is the premise of “The Kid in My Closet” (www.cottagelanebooks.com; Book Publishers Network), Linda Meyer’s new book. Jonster the Monster goes to bed one night and is frightened out of his wits by a little boy kid who pops out of his closet in a twist on the ubiquitous children’s fear of the monsters in their closets (or under their beds.) Meyer has written or edited eleven books prior to this one, three selling in the hundreds of thousands. This educator has observed, as we all have, the results of prejudice around the world: The Middle East, Darfur, Ireland to name a few. Many Americans now shun Muslims and Sikhs without even a hint of involvement in the 9/11 catastrophes. This bias exists not just in our adult minds, but also in our children and our schools. With her illustrated book Meyer attacks in a humorous way the bias founded in differences, hoping the reader will see that two who are very different can become very good friends. Fellow educators and children who have read the book agree it gives a very good lesson about friendship.
A famous anonymous quote tells us: “Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable.” Linda Meyer has a good grasp of that philosophy and her delightful book, “The Kid in My Closet” does too.
About the Author
Linda Meyer (www.cottagelanebooks.com) lives in Washington State. Married for 39 years to her high school sweetheart, she is mother of two adult children and has 5 grandchildren. Meyer’s extensive education and experience (she once took time off from writing to establish a shelter for abused and homeless youth) gives us a book that celebrates diversity. She wants to encourage others, particularly children, to know they can be friends with people who might be ugly or different by their standards, but that it really doesn’t matter what your friends look like.
Miranda Roberts is a well-traveled silk painter now living in the Pacific Northwest, her sixth country of residence. Her many travels and her work in silk result in illustrations that are bold, unique and wonderfully reflect the words of the author. (A Fun Hint: Look for the gecko you can find in most pages!)
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