Get Along Monsters

K-Gr 4—This brief video provides strategies to deal with common situations in which children may find it difficult to say no. Four scenarios are presented and the reassuring narrator gives advice on how to handle them. Kelsey's older brother tries to convince her to do his chores, badgering her until she gives in. The narrator tells viewers that Kelsey could have handled the situation in another way by repeating her answer with confidence and looking her brother in the eye. The action returns to Kelsey's house and this time she is successful. In the second vignette, Mike has been trading lunch items with Ellen without her consent. Although she's afraid of making her friend angry, she learns to tell him how she feels. In a third scene, Ellen and her girlfriends are playing with make-up when her friends want to give her a haircut. When they don't back down, she walks away. In the final scene, three boys are playing outside when Andrew is called in by his mother. He says that he will return shortly. While he's gone, Tony suggests that he and Joey go to his house. Joey is conflicted about leaving without Andrew, but acquiesces. When they hear Andrew calling, Tony wants to ignore him, but Joey insists on going back outside. The actors are convincing and children will relate to the situations depicted. The simplistic Get Along Monsters only appear during the theme song and very briefly at the beginning of each scene, so older viewers will not feel that the program is too juvenile for them.—Constance Dickerson, Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library, OH