Children’s Book of Mythical Beasts and Magical Monsters by DK Publishing.

What better image to carry off with you into your dreams than that of a witch’s house running around on chicken legs? Or the picture of human skin falling to the floor as the werewolf emerges? Maybe not everyone prefers these as their parting shots from consciousness, but I know one kid who is more than happy to.

To be fair, not every story in here is scary or creepy. There are stories about Ananzi the spider, of African lore, or Native American tales of the Thunderbird which was, incidentally, my high school mascot.

There are stories about tricksters from all corners of the globe, tales of the underworld, heaven, and everything in between. If you dig the Greeks, you’ll find them here as well. Aztecs more your thing? Look no further! Full of original illustrations as well as historic art from around the world, this is a great introduction to mythical creatures as well as stories of quests and battles.

Now some of this book is rather creepy, so if you are not into spooky stuff, you may want to put this away until you are a little bit older. But if you like a little shiver, then by all means pick this one up!