Mike and Molly are young neighbors who aim to eliminate Mike's fear of monsters using a homemade zap-a-monster spray they create with a science kit. The story highlights their adventure in concocting this spray with ingredients from farmer Jim's field and how it helps Mike conquer his fears at bedtime. Aimed at children, the book encourages confidence and laughter, turning the idea of monsters into fun and playful characters.

1. Meet Mike and Molly, young neighbors and a dynamic duo trying to fig-
ure out whether monsters are real. Mike struggles to find a way to get
rid of his monster fears forever, but none of them work—well, not until
he and Molly use the science kit she got for her birthday to concoct the
first-ever Zap-A-Monster Spray. You’ll laugh and be captivated by the
idea that all the monsters are just funny fellows who like to play tricks.
Wait until you see how Mike and Molly save the day—or the night
rather—with their Zap-A-Monster Spray. No child will want to turn the
lights out at night without his or her very own Zap-A-Monster Spray.
Bring it on, monsters! We know how to get rid of you!
Visit Mike & Molly at www.SkunkHollowPublishing.com for fun activities.
As a mother-daughter team, we had so much fun creating this book
adventure together that our smile muscles still hurt, and we think yours
will too. We know our story will help spray away any anxiousness be-
fore bedtime and ensure sweet dreams. Our hope is that Zap-A-Mon-
ster will delight children and parents.
Illustrated by Designo Dream 2013
Skunk Hollow Publishing
406 The Hill
Portsmouth, NH 03802
www.SkunkHollowPublishing.com
Printed in United States
Shirley DeLong of Hilton Head Island,
South Carolina &
Lauren DeLong of York, Maine.
ZAP’A’MONSTERShirley&LaurenDeLong
Ages 3 up

2. ZAP ‘A’ MONSTERZAP ‘A’ MONSTER
Shirley DeLong and Lauren DeLong

3. Zap ‘A’ Monster
Copyright © 2013 Skunk Hollow Publishing
All rights reserved.
Shirley & Lauren DeLong Illustrated by Designo Dream
ISBN: 978-0-9894180-2-7
Skunk Hollow Publishing
406 The Hill
Portsmouth, NH 03802
www.SkunkHollowPublishing.com

4. Hello out there. My name is Mike. I’m just a kid like you trying to figure things out
and find my way. I spend a ton of time thinking about monsters. Do you?

5. Do you ever get scared when it’s time for bed? Sure, everything is hunky-dory
once I’m asleep, but it’s scary when the lights go out. Yikes, anything could
be hiding in that closet or under that bed! Who’s that looking in the window? I
probably shouldn’t insist that Mom or Dad read the book Where the Wild Things
Are by Maurice Sendak every night. Who wouldn’t get freaked out by the thought
of monsters, where they may lurk, and the tricks they might play after spending
so much time thinking about all the types of monsters that might exist?

6. Well, I’ve determined that monsters are just funny fellows who like to play tricks.

7. I just know that they play all sorts of silly tricks on me after I fall asleep. Oh, are
they ever full of all sorts of funny tricks.

8. When the lights go out, it’s so quiet I can hear monsters breathing under my bed.
I even can smell stinky monster breath creeping out from under my bed. Are they
crunching on Oreos or peanut butter crackers? I hope they have enough.

9. I tried everything under the sun—or, really, everything under the moon to get the
thought of monsters out of my head.

10. I tried my sister’s old Barbie nightlight, but that just made the tree outside my
window look like a scary, old, crunching, munching monster.
I tried making sure that the closet was 100 percent closed, but somehow that
right door always creaked open, and I was sure it was the dirty-clothes-dragon-
breath monster lurking in there.
I tried sleeping on my side so I’d only see my wall, but the lamp in the corner
looked like an eight-legged, slimy-octopus, kid-spooking monster with supersize
suction cups.
I tried closing my eyes super-duper tight, but that just made me see all those
colored spots that looked like bity fire ants and spiders (or a bunch of Cyclops
staring at me).
I tried pulling the covers over my head, but then I couldn’t breathe, which made
my heart pound so hard I could hear it in my throat. It sounded like a fifty-foot
ogre stomping down the hallway to double-bounce me on my bed.

12. What can I do… a weapon or a bomb? No, they don’t work because the
monsters are too big. Maybe a garden hose, no mom would yell at me if I soaked
my bedroom.

13. No wait, maybe a spray. Yes, that is it a spray, a vaporizing Zap-A-Monster
Spray! That would do it. But I don’t know anything about science and making. Oh
I know…

14. What about Molly? If anyone could concoct Zap-A-Monster Spray it is Molly. Yes,
that is it! My neighbor, Molly, just got a science kit for her birthday! We used her
kit to make all sorts of awesome things like a volcano, crystals, slithery slime, and
even stink bombs.

15. If we could make all that, what about Zap-A-Monster Spray? Brilliant! How cool
would it be to have a spray to use before bedtime that would keep those awful
monsters out of your room for good?

16. Molly is one of my best friends. She has crazy curly brown hair and the best tree
house in the neighborhood. Most of my friends don’t like girls but I think Molly is
the coolest. She is the most creative mad scientist I know. Her tree house is like
a James Bond hideout with a drop down rope ladder, listening station, telescope
defense system, easy bake oven and water balloon launching pad from the roof.
Molly can run up that rope ladder and pull it up after her faster than anyone I know.

18. I shared my plan with Molly and she was in! Molly and I headed off to Molly’s
tree house destined to create our very own Zap-A-Monster Spray. Watch out
Monsters! No more trick playing on us once we make our Zap-A-Monster Spray!

20. Now to get to work. Hmmm, what could we use to vaporize a monster? Lava,
crystals, slime balls, stink bombs? Molly said, “Wait, what about something from
Farmer Jim’s field?” Oh yeah, if you wind down the trail behind our house it
eventually opens up at Farmer Jim’s. Famer Jim always wants to share with us
anything he grows. He had rows and rows of all kinds of crops.

22. Molly’s favorite out of all of Famer Jim’s crops was lavender. She always said,
“Lavender had magical powers that could calm the wildest of wild”. My favorite
was the spearmint; I just loved making my own spearmint gum by mashing up a
bunch of leaves into a gummy mess. Mom always said it cleared her nose and
made her breath smell minty fresh. I once fit 35 spearmint leaves into my mouth
at once, a record that has never been beaten.

23. I wonder if we could concoct a winning formula from Farmer Jim’s field. After all,
there was enough in Farmer Jim’s field that we could make a lifelong supply of
Zap-A-Monster Spray for everyone we knew. Hmmm, know we just need to figure
out the concoction that would work.

24. Molly and I got all of our scientist gear out and then put on our spy gear to go to
Farmer Jim’s to gather our Lavendar and Spearmint. We stuffed our pillow cases
with more lavender and spearmint than you’ve ever seen. We used Molly’s triple
load reducing pully system and trap door to haul up our materials.

26. We worked all through the weekend and into the night concocting the perfect
vaporizing Zap-A-Monster Spray.

28. I couldn’t wait to try it that night. Before I knew it, Mom said, “Time for bed!” For
the first time in my life, I wasn’t scared one little bit.

29. And sure enough right before the lights went out the moment had come. I saw
the shadows and heard the giggling of those silly monsters about to play a trick
on me. I slipped my finger to the top of the spray bottle, reached straight out in
the direction of the monster and then…

30. I sprayed three quick bursts. The droplets of Zap-A-Monster Spray completely
engrossed the area where I imagined the monster and then it happened. All
the little droplets of spray clung to the monsters slippery spotted skin and spun
into little cyclones of vaporizing magic. And poof, right before my eyes the silly
monster must have vaporized just like that. Yes, yes, yeeeeees!

32. Now I actually can’t wait to go to bed each night armed with my Zap-A-Monster
Spray. I confidently spray my Zap-A-Monster Spray and then drift off to sleep
without a worry in the world.
Bring it on, monsters! I’m not afraid of your silly tricks! Zap Those Monsters!

34. Meet Mike and Molly, young neighbors and a dynamic duo trying to fig-
ure out whether monsters are real. Mike struggles to find a way to get
rid of his monster fears forever, but none of them work—well, not until
he and Molly use the science kit she got for her birthday to concoct the
first-ever Zap-A-Monster Spray. You’ll laugh and be captivated by the
idea that all the monsters are just funny fellows who like to play tricks.
Wait until you see how Mike and Molly save the day—or the night
rather—with their Zap-A-Monster Spray. No child will want to turn the
lights out at night without his or her very own Zap-A-Monster Spray.
Bring it on, monsters! We know how to get rid of you!
Visit Mike & Molly at www.SkunkHollowPublishing.com for fun activities.
As a mother-daughter team, we had so much fun creating this book
adventure together that our smile muscles still hurt, and we think yours
will too. We know our story will help spray away any anxiousness be-
fore bedtime and ensure sweet dreams. Our hope is that Zap-A-Mon-
ster will delight children and parents.
Illustrated by Designo Dream 2013
Skunk Hollow Publishing
406 The Hill
Portsmouth, NH 03802
www.SkunkHollowPublishing.com
Printed in United States
Shirley DeLong of Hilton Head Island,
South Carolina &
Lauren DeLong of York, Maine.
ZAP’A’MONSTERShirley&LaurenDeLong
Ages 3 up