Since it was published in 1971 , source Jon Stone and illustrator Michael Smollin’sThe Monster at the End of This Bookhas become an iconic entranceway in the kidlit canyon . harmonise toPublisher ’s Weekly , Random House and Western Publishing ( the company that produced Little Golden Books whenThe Monster at the End of This Bookdebuted ) had reportedly soldmore than 20 million copiesof Stone and Smollin ’s classic as of 2019 .

The story is familiar to most Americans who have ever been , or come across , a 5 - year - sure-enough : Grover , exhaustively freaked out by the book ’s title page , tries everything he can recall of to keep readers from turning pages and bringing him boldness - to - typeface with thetitularmonster ( which , spoiler warning signal , work out to be him ) . It’sconsideredan influential title in the ontogenesis of children ’s metafiction — tale that break the 4th wall and permit readers in on the act of creation . To mark its 50th anniversary , here are eight fourth - rampart - smashing facts aboutThe Monster at the End of This Book .

1. The author ofThe Monster at the End of This Bookwas one of the architects ofSesame Street.

Jon Stonegot his offset in television in a CBS training program briefly after earning his master ’s degree from the Yale School of Drama in 1955 . In 1968 , after a least sandpiper as a writer for legendary shaver ’ miscellanea showCaptain Kangaroo , Stone was one of the original squad of producersrecruited bySesame Streetco - creator Joan Ganz Cooney to develop a trailblazing shaver ’ show that would be as educational as it was entertaining . Stone was responsible for for assembling the show’soriginal , inclusive cast , developing some of its best - known lineament , write the pilot instalment , and helping bring puppeteerJim Henson , who make several popularSesame Streetcharacters , on board .

2.Sesame Streetwasn’t the only way the author ofThe Monster at the End of This Bookinfluenced television.

Stone aid rest the foundation for another iconic serial when he join forces with Henson on 1975’sThe Muppet Show : Sex and Violence , the moment of two cowcatcher for what would finally becomeThe Muppet Show . Along with the first pilot—1974’sThe Muppet Valentine Show — Sex and Violenceestablished several ofThe Muppet Show ’s hallmarks , include its variety format and lightly seditious humor . Sex and Violencealso introduce a number ofMuppet Showregulars , include Sam Eagle , Electric Mayhem frontman Dr. Teeth , and the Swedish Chef .

In a devious way , Stone ’s influence also spilled over into the human race of primetime sitcoms . Before he start his groundbreaking study onSesame Street , Stone was the drive force behindThe Munsters ’s season - one casting shakeup . Beverley Owen , who played Marilyn in the first 13 episodes , result the showin 1964 to wed Stone , prompting her replacement by Pat Priest .

3. The illustrator ofThe Monster at the End of This Bookwas a decorated war veteran and prolific artist and animator.

Michael Smollin wasborn in 1925to parent who immigrated to America from Eastern Europe to elude the onslaught of World War I. As an infantryman during World War II , Smollin fought in the Battle of the Bulge , where he stick out shrapnel wound that earned him a Purple Heart and retired him from active duty . He was a fecund commercial-grade illustrator for many old age , with a client roll that included Milton Bradley , TV Guide , andTimemagazine .

4. The star ofThe Monster at the End of This Bookmade his first appearance—in a radically different form—onThe Ed Sullivan Show.

Audiences got theirfirst glimpseof the Muppet who would eventually become Grover in a 1967 Christmas Eve episode ofThe Ed Sullivan Show . report with fleeceable fur and sport an orange nose , proto - Grover ( known as “ Gleep ” ) made his debut in a survey set in Santa ’s shop , where he was one of a work party of “ thugs , crooks , and burglars ” bent on disrupt Santa ’s business organization . It was n’t until 1970 — the year beforeThe goliath at the close of This Bookwas published — that Grover became a even onSesame Streetin the sort we know today : blue - furred , pink - nosed , and unfailingly agreeable .

5.The Monster at the End of This Bookwas written in a few hours, on a cross-country flight.

accord toThe Washington Post , Stonewrotethe book , which clocks in at just over 350 intelligence , on a legal pad during a escape to California sometime in late 1970 or early 1971 . Lucy Stone detest flying and was probable trying to comfort his anxiousness … with a story about anxiety . He register the holograph to Christopher Cerf ( son of Random House co - founder and popular game show panelist Bennett Cerf ) , who hadspentyears as a senior editor in chief at Random House and was now tasked with developing books and other Cartesian product to help fundSesame Street . Cerf love a thing or two about children ’s literature — during his tenure at Random House , he had worked withDr . Seuss — and he immediately knew that Stone was onto something special .

6.The Monster at the End of This Bookhelped generate an important revenue stream forSesame Street.

Despite the brand ’s enormous footprint in bookstores , toy stores , and even supermarkets , keepingSesame Streeton the air has always been an act of fiscal creativeness . Sesame Workshop , the not-for-profit that bring forth the show , reported an operating income of only$1.6 millionin 2018 , while its operating costs add together up to more than $ 100 million per year . ( The 2008 financial crisis , along with fundamentalshifts in how tiddler play , nearly tank the show , take its controversial move to HBO . )

The Monster at the End of This Bookestablisheda central revenue stream forSesame Street , prove that books could be an authoritative source of income . It remain one of the 10 bestselling books in the Little Golden Books line and an important backlist title for Random House , which print the first - ever licensedSesame Streettie - in book in 1971 and extend to release newSesame Street - relate title every yr . And Random House is n’t the show ’s only licence publishing partner ; as of 2019 , a combined 14 U.S. publishers were place out about 100 unexampled Sesame Street deed every class , thanks in large part to the breakout success ofThe Monster at the End of This Book .

7.The Monster at the End of This Bookhas influenced authors well beyond the world of children’s literature.

Brad Parks , Shamus Award - winning author of thriller such asSay NothingandInterference , has cited the book as a formative influence , claiming he ’s spent his entire calling essentially riffing on its cardinal tale twist . “ There is a monster at the death of all of my novel , ” ParkstoldThe Washington Post , “ and I want you to feel this unbearable obsession to turn Page and find out what it is . ”

David Burr Gerrard , author of the literary sci - fi novelThe Epiphany Machineand an teacher at the Yale Writers ’ Workshop , was also right impressed by Stone ’s slim tale . In an essay for Literary Hub , GerrardwrotethatThe Monster at the conclusion of This Book"formed [ his ] sensory faculty of what literature could and should do , ” and later served as a gateway volume to the work of Franz Kafka and James Joyce .

“ I suspectThe Monster at the death of This Bookis one of those influence many thriller writer have in common , even if we ’re not cognizant of it , ” Riley Sager , theNew York Timesbestselling generator ofHome before Darkand the upcomingSurvive the Night , tells Mental Floss . “ It was for certain my first confrontation with suspense — knowing from the title that there ’s a monster waiting for us on the last page and feel both apprehensiveness and delightful anticipation as I made my way through the book — and of have a twist ending . In hindsight , The Monster at the End of This Bookacts as a knavish commentary on the sometimes cruel rarity humans possess . Grover implores us not to work the page . Yet we do . Every damn time . Which , in a misrepresented way , makes us monstrous as well . ”

In 1971, Grover became the star of The Monster at the End of This Book.

Stone and Smollin collaborated on several more Grover book observe the success ofThe Monster at the End of This Book , pop out withHide and Seek with Lovable , Furry Old Groverin 1976 and continuing withLovable Furry Old Grover ’s Resting Places(do note the plural ) in 1984 . The pair produced a direct sequel in 1996 withAnother Monster at the End of This Book , which boast Elmo in a co - stellar function . Please Do Not open up This Book , an interactive variation that added flaps and pull yellow journalism to Stone and Smollin ’s original classic , was publish in 2006 .

The Scripture has been translated into other media as well . Anaward - winning interactive appreleased in 2011 has been downloaded more than a half - million times . In 2013 , the official Sesame Street Twitter accountwarned followers not to retweet“There Is a MONSTER at the End of This Twitter Conversation , ” andan animate specialcalledThere Is a behemoth at the End of This Storypremiered in October 2020 on HBO Max .

Do you have a go at it reading ? Are you eager to make out fantastically interesting facts about novelist and their kit and boodle ? Then pick up our new book , The Curious Reader : A Literary Miscellany of Novels and Novelists , out May 25 !