My Life as a Furry Red Monster: What Being Elmo Has Taught Me About Life, Love and Laughing Out Loud by Kevin Clash with Gary Brozek 224 pages Broadway September 2006 Hardcover     If you’ve ever wanted to get to know the man behind the furry red monster, Elmo, this is your chance. My Life As A Furry Red Monster is a warm, humorous, inspiring and moving look at the life of Kevin Clash, better known to millions of tikes and parents as the lovable, adorable Elmo. Clash tells his story with honesty and humility, of his childhood growing up with a desire already instilled to create puppets that would make people laugh and smile, to his Emmy-winning work on Sesame Street and Elmo’s World and his encounters with children eager to get close to Elmo’s magnetic charm. Clash, writing with Gary Brozek, uses Elmo to reveal life lessons he himself learned growing up with a dream, and a passion, to serve others with his talent. He talks about his parents supporting his dream, sometimes in rather humorous ways, as when he decided to cut up the lining of his dad’s coat to make a puppet, and how he was nurtured by special people in his life to believe in himself, no matter the odds. Ultimately, this delightful book is just as much about the evolution of Clash as it is about Elmo, for the two have gone through life hand in hand, or, well, hand up back I guess you could say. This book is part memoir, part inspirational, but all heart – a book about a man and a puppet and their journey, a journey that has brought more joy and happiness to others than they will ever know. That’s Elmo’s world.   web reviews   Marie D. Jones/2006 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)