Beware the Booger Bear

Have you ever wondered about those noises in the middle of the night? Do you ever feel scared of the dark and the unknown? Every culture has a scary story about a creature that comes after misbehaving children. Russian folklore gives us Baba Yaga, an ogress who steals, cooks, and eats her victims; in the Middle East, the Jinn influences children for good or evil; European cultures have Krampus,sort of an anti-Santa Claus who punishes misbehaving children; El Coco, a mythical ghost monster in Hispanic cultures, abducts misbehaving children; Namahage, a Japanese demon, goes door to door looking for naughty children; and, in China, Tiger Aunt is a child-eating tiger disguised as an old woman. In the rural South, we have the Booger Bear, who will get you if you don't watch out! When a young girl hears a bump in the night, she thinks her worst fears have been realized: the Booger Bear has come to get her! But soon she learns he is not at all what she thought he was. Instead of being big and scary, the Booger Bear is actually afraid, too. She is able to help him out of a jam, and the two become nighttime friends, sharing blueberry pie and glasses of milk.