Picture books and early readers carry all the weight of parental authority, and are essential tools in the learning process for children. They offer children not only hours of sanctioned entertainment and carefully chosen words and concepts, they also introduce the young children to specific cultural norms and belief systems. What role then does the supernatural character play for children learning to “read” and interpret the values in the interplay of images, words, and authority? At this point, there is no text addressing this question; although there is an increasing amount of scholarship regarding how the various supernatural characters (and monstrous children) reflect various adult issues when they appear within film and television. This edited collection is meant to begin the exploration of what cultural norms and morals are being offered our children in images and words in the medium of picture books and early readers since they are not just sanctioned, but encouraged.