At bedtime, a small boy checks his bedroom for monsters like Heeby Jeeby, Creepy Critter and the Toe Taster. He looks under his bed, in his cupboard, behind the curtains. Satisfied they are not there he jumps into bed with his teddy bear. Before saying goodnight to his babysitter, she reads him a story about a boy just like him who tames monsters.
I want to be a Big Boss, just like Max in the story, the boy whispers. During sleep the monsters appear. They jiggle and jive with the boy, just like Max in the story his babysitter read. They wiggle their big bottoms and jiggle their jelly bellies, and beat their hairy chests. They howl and yodel and make lots of noise. But who is the big boss? The boy? Or the monsters? And next morning, before school, who is the boss?