One Little Word

Waterstones Children’s Laureate, Joseph Coelho, tells the story of a hairy monster that rips two best friends apart. And there’s only one little word that can make it go away!

This big hairy monster slowly balloons in size, ruining everyone’s fun.

But this isn’t any old monster. This is a hairy argument that just won’t go away. They try calling it names, yelling at it, and even ignoring it. Nothing works.

“The argument came from nowhere.

It sat huge and bloated

in the middle of the playground

between me and my best friend.”

Until… the best friends say that one little word that makes everything better. They learn how to shrink the monster until it vanishes completely. And soon, they can’t even remember what it looks like!

We all know how an argument can balloon into something we never expected. What starts as a simple tiff has the power to really hurt our feelings. This book describes those intense feelings perfectly and provides a comforting solution in the form of an apology, which serves to cool down and reunite the friends.

The perfect metaphor for difficult discussions that can get in the way of daily life, and a gentle way to introduce your child to the concept of compromise. Coelho’s gentle and lyrical verse pairs perfectly with Allison Colpoys’ classic illustrations to create a book which will be treasured by young readers. This is an ode to the power of an apology, and to treasuring a special bond that runs deeper than even the friends realized.