The night before Archie is to start school, the Worry Monster crawls into his bed, and begins to tell him all the things he should worry about because of tomorrow's big day. Will he find his classroom, will anyone play with him, what if the teacher won't let him do any sports, but insists on maths all day? The Monster grows and grows until he is enormous, but then Archie remembers something: he and his mum have encountered this Worry Monster before, and he begins to think of the things they have used to get rid of him. First he must take some deep breaths, and then he must remember facts to contradict what the Monster has told him. The school has only five classes, so he won't get lost, he knows some of his classmates from football, and he already knows there are sports on the timetable. Problem solved, and the Worry Monster returns to his normal size and slinks away. Archie looks at his favourite picture book, and soon he and his dog Toby are fast asleep and Archie is pleased that he is a big boy now who can solve his worry problems on his own. As the Worry Monster looks rather like a large, stuffed, stripy sock, he is more cuddly than scary, and Toby and Archie's toy animals are all on his side, providing glares and mutinous looks, so that helps the plot along too, and the pictures are funny and warm. A wonderful addition for kids with starting school problems.