Leonardo, the Terrible Monster

by Mo Willems

Leonardo is a terrible monster — he can't scare anyone. When he meets a nervous little boy named Sam, Leonardo discovers that being a good friend is better than being a scary monster.

Big Idea

Being kind and a good friend matters more than living up to what others expect of you.

Discussion Questions

1.Why is Leonardo a 'terrible' monster?
2.What happens when Leonardo tries to scare Sam?
3.What does Leonardo decide to be instead of scary?
4.Have you ever felt like you weren't good at something? What did you do?

Classroom Activity

My Friendly Monster

Draw a monster that is friendly instead of scary. Write one sentence about what makes your monster a good friend.

Lesson Plan

⏱ 35–40 minutes📦 Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems, drawing paper, pencils, crayons or markers, chart paper, sentence-frame strips

Learning Goals

Describe Leonardo’s change from wanting to scare Sam to choosing to be his friend.
Identify how Sam feels and explain how Leonardo responds with kindness.
Design a friendly monster and name a specific action that makes it a good friend.
Use drawing, dictation, or writing to create one sentence about the monster’s friendship skills.

Activity Steps

1.Read Leonardo, the Terrible Monster aloud. Pause to ask: “Why does Leonardo want to scare someone?” and “How do you think Sam feels?”
2.Discuss Leonardo’s choice after he learns why Sam is upset. Ask: “How does Leonardo become a good friend instead of a scary monster?” List friendly actions, such as listening, helping, and inviting someone to play.
3.Introduce “My Friendly Monster.” Model drawing a monster and describing its kind behavior: “My monster is a good friend because it listens when someone feels sad.” Emphasize that a monster can look unusual and still be kind.
4.Have children draw their own friendly monsters. Encourage them to include a detail showing kindness, such as a monster sharing crayons or helping someone.
5.Have children complete the sentence frame: “My monster is a good friend because _____.” PreK children may dictate to an adult; kindergarten and grade 1–2 children may use supported or independent writing.
6.Invite children to share their drawings and sentences with a partner or the class. Close by asking each child to name one friendly action they can try today, just as Leonardo chose friendship.

Standards Connections

ELA: RL.K.3 — With prompting and support, identify characters and major events, focusing on Leonardo, Sam, and Leonardo’s choice to become a friend.
ELA: RL.1.3 — Describe characters and major events using details from Leonardo’s encounter with Sam.
ELA: W.K.2 — Use drawing, dictating, and writing to provide information about a friendly monster and its kind behavior.
ELA: SL.1.1 — Participate in collaborative conversations about the story and classmates’ friendly-monster designs.
SEL: Relationship skills and social awareness — Recognize another person’s feelings and identify caring actions that build friendships.

Pace-Write-Read Study with Pace-Write It!

Focus question: How does Mo Willems slow down and speed up Leonardo’s story to help us feel both his frustration and his growing friendship with Sam? In Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems, a monster who cannot scare anyone meets a boy who is already very upset, and that surprising moment changes everything. Willems uses fast page turns, brief text, bold dialogue, and lots of white space to pace the story so readers notice the big feelings, funny pauses, and kind ending.

Element	How to notice or teach it in the novel
Pace	Read: Notice how the story moves quickly when Leonardo tries to scare children, then slows down when Sam begins his long, emotional speech. The pacing helps readers feel the shift from funny failure to an important friendship moment. Classroom Activity: Write 3 short sentences about a character trying and failing at something, then 1 longer sentence that slows down the moment when someone helps.
Plot	Read: Notice the simple plot: Leonardo wants to be scary, he meets Sam, and then he learns friendship matters more than frightening others. Each event happens in a clear order that keeps young readers engaged. Classroom Activity: Draw and label 4 boxes for beginning, middle, problem, and ending using Leonardo and Sam’s story pattern, then invent your own character for a new version.
Prosody	Read: Listen to how the text sounds aloud, especially in Sam’s dramatic speech and Leonardo’s serious monster moments. Mo Willems uses phrasing that invites readers to change their voice for humor and emotion. Classroom Activity: Practice reading Sam’s speech aloud in a worried voice, then write 2 lines of dialogue that should be read in a calm, kind voice.
Word pause	Read: Notice where single words or short phrases create little pauses, making readers stop and pay attention to Leonardo’s feelings and actions. These pauses help the jokes land and make the emotional turns feel bigger. Classroom Activity: Write a 4-line mini-story and place one line with just a single important word, such as Oh! or Wait!
Concept	Read: Notice the big idea that being a friend is better than being mean or scary. Leonardo thinks success means frightening others, but the story changes that idea into kindness and connection. Classroom Activity: Finish this sentence frame: At first my character thinks ______ matters most, but then learns ______ matters more.
Voice & World View	Read: Notice how the narrator presents Leonardo’s monster world in a funny, matter-of-fact way, making unusual things feel normal. The story’s voice is playful but also gentle about big feelings. Classroom Activity: Write 3 sentences about an unusual character, like a ghost or dragon, in a calm, serious voice that makes the silly idea sound real.
Setting & Place	Read: Notice that the backgrounds are simple, so readers focus mostly on the characters and their feelings instead of a busy setting. The open space helps the pacing feel clear and direct. Classroom Activity: Write 2 sentences that place a character in one simple setting, such as a hallway or playground, and explain how that place helps the story.
Point of View	Read: Notice that readers mostly follow Leonardo’s problem and what he wants, so we understand his disappointment even though he is a monster. This point of view helps us care about him before he changes. Classroom Activity: Rewrite one moment from Sam’s point of view, telling how he feels when Leonardo appears.
Original Characters	Read: Notice how Leonardo is an unusual monster because he is not good at being scary, and Sam is a surprising match because he is already overwhelmed. Their originality makes the friendship twist memorable and funny. Classroom Activity: Invent a character who is bad at what everyone expects them to do, and write 3 sentences introducing them.
Dialogue	Read: Notice how dialogue reveals character, especially when Sam talks and talks, showing he is nervous and full of feelings. Leonardo’s interactions with Sam move the story from conflict to kindness. Classroom Activity: Write a short dialogue between two characters where one is upset and the other decides to help instead of tease.
Details	Read: Notice the small details about Leonardo’s appearance and Sam’s emotions that make each character clear without using many words. Mo Willems chooses only the details needed for humor and heart. Classroom Activity: Describe a character using 3 exact details about how they look, move, or feel.
Descriptions	Read: Notice how the descriptions are brief but vivid, helping readers quickly understand Leonardo as a monster and Sam as a worried child. Short descriptions keep the pacing moving. Classroom Activity: Write 2 short descriptive sentences about a character, one for appearance and one for emotion.
Strong First Lines	Read: Notice how the beginning quickly introduces Leonardo and his problem, grabbing attention right away. The strong opening sets up the joke that this monster is terrible at being scary. Classroom Activity: Write an opening line for a story about a character who is not good at the one thing they are supposed to do.
Immediacy & Engagement	Read: Notice how readers are pulled in quickly because Leonardo wants something badly and keeps trying to get it. His problem feels immediate, and the funny setup makes readers want to see what happens next. Classroom Activity: Write 3 sentences that begin with a character wanting something right away, such as Today, Max had to win the race.
Story Scenes & Summaries & Unique Structures	Read: Notice how some parts feel like quick summaries of Leonardo trying to scare many children, while other parts become fuller scenes, like the meeting with Sam. This structure speeds through repeated failure and slows down the important turning point. Classroom Activity: Write one summary sentence about many tries, then write 3 scene sentences about the one try that changes everything.
Flashback & Flash Forward & Cliffhangers	Read: Notice that this story mostly stays in the present, which keeps the pacing simple for young readers. You can still see how the page turns create mini cliffhangers before we learn what Leonardo will do next. Classroom Activity: Add a cliffhanger ending to a page by writing: But then ______.
Tension & Suspense & Surprise	Read: Notice the tension when Leonardo finally finds someone he thinks he can scare, and the surprise comes when Sam does not react the way Leonardo expects. The biggest surprise is that friendship becomes the real solution. Classroom Activity: Write 4 sentences where a character plans one thing, but something surprising happens instead.
Page Turns and Chapter Breaks	Read: Notice how the picture-book page turns help jokes and surprises arrive at just the right moment, especially around Leonardo’s attempts and Sam’s emotional reaction. There are no chapters, so each turn helps control pacing. Classroom Activity: Fold a paper into 4 pages and plan what information to hide until the next page turn in your own mini-book.
Performance	Read: Notice how this book invites expressive reading, with monster seriousness, comic timing, and Sam’s dramatic outpouring. A lively performance helps children hear the pacing. Classroom Activity: Choose one line for Leonardo and one for Sam, then mark them with emojis or simple symbols to show how to read them aloud.
Personality	Read: Notice Leonardo’s earnest personality—he really wants to be scary—and Sam’s emotional, talkative personality. Their strong personalities shape the speed and tone of the story. Classroom Activity: Write a sentence frame for two characters: _____ was the kind of character who _____, but _____ was the kind of character who _____.
Humor	Read: Notice the humor in the idea of a monster who cannot scare anyone and in the mismatch between Leonardo’s plan and Sam’s reaction. The funny pacing makes the kind ending even more powerful. Classroom Activity: Write a funny problem for a character, such as a giant who is afraid of tiny bugs, and add 2 sentences about what happens.
Pause	Read: Notice how pauses before and after important lines give readers time to feel Leonardo’s choice to stop being scary and start being kind. These pauses make the emotional shift stand out. Classroom Activity: Write a short scene and use a line break before the most important sentence so readers pause.
Poetry and Poetic Devices	Read: Notice that even though this is prose, some lines sound playful and patterned because of word choice and repetition. The simple language can still feel musical when read aloud. Classroom Activity: Write a 3-line character poem about Leonardo or Sam using repeated beginning words, such as He wanted..., He tried..., He learned....
Repetition	Read: Notice how repeated attempts to scare build humor and rhythm. Repetition helps readers understand Leonardo’s problem before the story changes direction. Classroom Activity: Write 3 repeating sentence starters about a character’s failed tries, such as She tried to ____, but ____.
Rhythm	Read: Notice the rhythm created by short sentences, page turns, and then Sam’s longer burst of speech. The change in rhythm signals a change in the story’s emotional energy. Classroom Activity: Write 2 short choppy sentences and then 1 longer flowing sentence to show a big feeling.
Punctuation	Read: Notice how punctuation helps control expression, especially in dialogue and emotional moments. Exclamation marks and sentence breaks help readers hear urgency, surprise, and humor. Classroom Activity: Write 3 lines of dialogue using a period, a question mark, and an exclamation mark—one in each line.
Questions	Read: Notice the questions readers may ask while listening: Will Leonardo ever scare someone? What will happen with Sam? These wondering moments keep the pacing strong. Classroom Activity: Write 2 questions a reader might ask during your story, then write 1 sentence that answers one of them later.
Compare-Contrast	Read: Notice how Leonardo and Sam are different—monster and child, would-be scarer and already-scared boy—but they also both have strong feelings and need connection. Comparing them helps reveal the friendship theme. Classroom Activity: Make a simple compare-contrast chart for Leonardo and Sam, then write 2 sentences using both and but.
Objects	Read: Notice how the book relies more on characters and expressions than on many important objects. That choice keeps attention on feelings, pacing, and the friendship moment. Classroom Activity: Add one meaningful object to a new story, such as a tissue, toy, or note, and write how it helps one character comfort another.
Threes	Read: Notice how patterns of repeated tries can be organized in threes when retelling the story, which makes events easy to remember and satisfying to hear. Groups of three often create strong pacing for young writers. Classroom Activity: Write about 3 attempts your character makes before solving a problem on the third try.
Whitespace & Negative Space	Read: Notice the large white space around Leonardo and Sam. The empty space slows readers down, highlights facial expressions and body language, and makes key moments feel bigger. Classroom Activity: On a blank page, draw one small character in the middle and write only 1 or 2 short sentences around them to show a big feeling.
Art & Graphics	Read: Notice how Mo Willems’s art style uses simple shapes, expressive faces, and clear body positions to help tell the story quickly. The illustrations do a lot of pacing work by showing emotion instantly. Classroom Activity: Draw a character with two different facial expressions—before kindness and after kindness—and write a caption for each.
Interactives & Gamification	Read: Notice how listeners can interact by predicting whether Leonardo will finally scare someone and by acting out Sam’s big speech. The story naturally invites participation because the pattern is clear and funny. Classroom Activity: Create a class prediction chart titled Will the character scare, help, or surprise? then write one sentence for your own story that lets classmates guess what happens next.

Pace-Write It!

20-Minute Classroom Flow Read (5 min): Read Leonardo, the Terrible Monster aloud with strong expression. Pause to let students notice how the story moves quickly during Leonardo’s failed scary attempts and slows down when Sam speaks. Notice (5 min): Ask: Where did the story feel fast? Where did it feel slow? Chart student ideas such as short sentences, repeated tries, big dialogue, page turns, white space, and the surprise that Leonardo becomes a friend. Write (7 min): Students write a tiny paced story about a character who wants to do one thing but learns kindness is better. Writing frame: My character was ______. He/She wanted to ______. He/She tried to ______, but ______. Then he/she met ______, who said, “______.” At last, my character learned ______. Share (3 min): Partners read their stories aloud and snap or tap when they hear a part that feels fast and a part that feels slow. Exit ticket: Write one sentence answering: How did Mo Willems use pacing to help show Leonardo’s change from scary to kind?

Pace-Write-Read Connection

Teach this book using the Pace-Write-Read method — Tool 20: Play.

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