When Ethan checks under the bed for his monster, he finds a note saying that Gabe has gone fishing and will be back in a week. He tries out several substitute monsters, but finds that none are as perfect as Gabe.

"Franklin is afraid of small, dark places. This is a real problem because Franklin is a turtle. And he is afraid of crawling into his small, dark shell. What will Franklin do?"

"We know by now that Scaredy Squirrel only feels safe when he's at home in his nut tree, with his defenses, his emergency kit and his back-up plans at the ready. So even though the sun is shining and it's time for a vacation, Scaredy does not want to go to the beach -- that vast, frightening place where a squirrel could get stranded. (Not to mention other hazards such as sea monsters, falling coconuts, seagulls, pirates and lobsters.) Instead, Scaredy...

Tiger unwittingly helps some worms overcome their fear of tigers with a well-placed, informative book, but will a wormy hug help a fearful Tiger?

Pete the cat is spending the day at the seashore. He has fun collecting shells and building a sand castle. But the beach is very hot. There is a whole ocean for Pete to cool off in, but it looks scary. Pete's brother, Bob, offers to teach Pete to surf. Will that be enough to help Pete get over his fear of the water?"

Scaredy comes up with a Bad Dream Action Plan to avoid sleep but between counting stars, playing cymbals and making scrapbooks, disaster still strikes and exhaustion takes its toll. Will Scaredy survive this ordeal? Will he find sweet dreams?

It's bedtime, and Little Bear can't get to sleep. He's frightened of the dark, the dark all around, which not even Big Bear's largest lantern can light up. Big Bear finds a way to show Little Bear that there is no need to be afraid.

A little old lady who is not afraid of anything must deal with a pumpkin head, a tall black hat, and other spooky objects that follow her through the dark woods trying to scare her.

At bedtime a boy confronts the nightmare in his closet and finds him not so terrifying after all.

Includes four humorous verse fantasies: The Sneetches, The Zax, The Many Daves, and What was I Scared of?