The Big Ugly Monster and the Little Stone Rabbit

The Big Ugly Monster isn’t ugly on the inside, he’s just sad and lonely. All the creatures run away from him, the sun disappears when he goes sunbathing and pools of water dry up when he wants a paddle. He has no-one to talk to except the rocks. So he decides to build some friends out of stone, but not even the rock can withstand the full force of the monster’s smile. They all shatter, except one, a little stone rabbit.

The Big Ugly Monster is happy to have the stone rabbit as his constant companion, something to which he can dance and sing and perform tricks, even though the rabbit never responds to him. The rabbit becomes the monster’s lifelong, lifeless companion. Upon the death of the Big Ugly Monster many years later, the cool blue and brown desolate landscape which characteristically marks the Big Ugly Monster’s habitat, changes. The creatures return. Flowers bloom. Trees and grass grow. The poor stone rabbit is almost hidden from view in this explosion of vibrant, warm colours, leaving new visitors to ponder how he got there. The contrast of these warm watercolours at this point makes the story even sadder.

As a picture book for young children I found this to be an unrelentingly sad and moving story but one which is ultimately rather depressing. The Big Ugly Monster’s life and death are solitary. His passing is marked by the previously desolate landscape bursting into life; Nature celebrating the death of the Big Ugly Monster. No happy ending or beginning or middle, unless you are a Big Ugly Monster who is happy for the small mercy of having a rock for a friend. Plenty of shade but not much light which young readers of this story might be expecting.