The Monster at the End of This Book: Starring Lovable, Furry Old Grover
The Monster at the End of This Book: Starring Lovable, Furry Old Grover (or simply The Monster at the End of This Book) is a children's picture book based on the television series "Sesame Street" and starring Grover. It was written by series writer and producer Jon Stone and illustrated by Michael Smollin, and originally published by Little Golden Books in 1971. It has since become the all-time best-selling "Sesame Street" book title and has been cited as a modern classic of children's  literature. Plot. Having read the book's title, Grover is horrified to learn that there is a monster at the end of the book. He immediately begs the reader not to finish the book, so as to avoid meeting the monster. Growing increasingly fearful as the story continues, Grover constructs a series of obstacles in hopes of preventing the reader from reading further, such as tying pages together, nailing one page to the next one and building a large brick wall, but nothing works (mostly because these are really simple illustrations to the reader, not actual obstacles). Near the end  of the book, Grover makes one last frantic plea not to turn the final page, only to discover on that page, in a surprise self-referential plot twist, that the monster is himself. He tries to laugh it off, claiming that he knew it all along, but the reader can see at the end that he is quite embarrassed by the whole ordeal. Publication. Jon Stone was involved in the creation and early development of the show "Sesame Street". He reportedly wrote "The Monster at the End of This Book" around the end of 1970 or early the following year  while on a flight across the United States to California. At the time, "Sesame Street" was airing its second season. Michael Smollin, a former advertising executive, illustrated the book. "The Monster at the End of This Book" was first published in 1971 by Little Golden Books. Copies first sold for 39 cents. The musician Christopher Cerf, who wrote songs for "Sesame Street" later told "The Washington Post" that upon reading the manuscript he said "Oh my god, this is wonderful". Reception. The book was an instant success. Originally written to introduce young children to the concept of reading a book  from beginning to end, "The Monster at the End of This Book" is the best-selling "Sesame Street" book title of all time. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children". In 2012, it was ranked number ten among the "Top 100 Picture Books" in a survey published by "School Library Journal". As of January 2021 the book had sold almost 13 million copies, making it one of the to ten best-selling Little Golden Books. The author Danny Freedman wrote a column that month  in "The Washington Post" describing the book as "an unlikely constant, at a rarefied height" and felt that "the book’s long tail of influence is out of proportion with its 24 pages and its cardboard cover devoid of medallions." The expert on children's literature Leonard S. Marcus described the book as an important point in children's fiction as it led to further innovation in the field, inspiring other self-aware works of literature like "The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales". According to Philip Nel, a professor of children's literature, the book's publication  method and connection to television might be the reason it has attracted relatively little scholarly attention. Sequels and adaptations. Two direct sequels were produced, also written by Stone and Illustrated by Smollin. "Would You Like To Play Hide and Seek with Lovable, Furry Old Grover?" (), was published in 1976, while "Another Monster at the End of This Book: Starring Lovable, Furry Old Grover, and Equally Lovable, Furry Little Elmo" (), was published in 1996. The latter features Grover now coping with Elmo actually encouraging the reader to turn the pages out of sheer curiosity. On August 1, 2009, a DVD audiobook  adaptation of the book was released by Hinkler Books, in the beginning, a hand (played by Edward Dix) walks through a shelf filled with boring books, looking for a fun book to read, and he happens to find The Monster At The End Of This Book. He takes the book out of the shelf and puts it on a desk, then the story begins, as Grover (voiced by Eric Jacobson) tells the story, the hand turns the pages. In the end, the hand plays a joke on Grover by making a monster shadow puppet, Grover notices the puppet, screams and  runs away, then the hand appears and laughs. The original artwork of the book inspired the animation by Neil Goodridge. The music used in the Hinkler Books audiobook were from Sesame Street's first 28 seasons. On December 7, 2009, Sesame Workshop released a free ebook version of the audiobook with highlights (though it is no longer available). On September 2020, Phoenix Books released a sound book version of the audiobook with a page turning sound effect added in the audio. An app based on the book was released in 2010 and was downloaded over 500,000 times as of January  2021. Like the Hinkler Books DVD, the Sesame Workshop Ebook and the Phoenix Sound Book, Eric Jacobson narrates the story as Grover. In the app, the reader can touch the rope to untie them and touch the brick wall to break it. The Music used in the app was from Sesame Street Seasons 29–41. On January 30, 2013, the Sesame Street Twitter account adapted the story to the popular social media network, again starring Grover with some impromptu assistance from Wil Wheaton. The book was adapted into an animated special, "The Monster at the End of This Story", which was  released on HBO Max on October 22, 2020.