A young girl attempts to teach her best friend to read. Her best friend just happens to be a cuddly orange monster. Despite the young girl's patient lessons, the monster gets nervous and runs away. The girl searches the house for him, rhyming along the way. Is he under the bed or somewhere he could be fed? Is he resting in the sun or out for a run? Eventually she finds her friend, and they cuddle up on the couch for a reading lesson. The text rhymes but lacks a solid rhythm. However, the story explains why words rhyme and provides tips on learning "word families" to help reading skills. The main character has fun, curly hair and a friendly face, and the monster is oblong, with orange fur, rounded horns, and purple ears and tail. Back matter includes more information on phonemic awareness and a little quiz on word families. VERDICT A story that both assuages a child's anxiety of learning to read and taps into their desire to teach others.-- "School Library Journal"

Learning to read is hard work--for kids and monsters alike. A monster with a scruffy orange body, purple ears and tail, and short rounded horns disappears after a tough reading lesson. "It's kind of my fault," reflects the story's narrator, a tan-skinned child with curly brown hair. "I got carried away. I was acting like a teacher the other day." It's an insightful remark, but after a promising start, the book goes downhill as the youngster proceeds on a truly didactic search for the monster. "Word families look and sound the same at the end. Let's use this knowledge to find my best friend." Charts of word families appear with relentless frequency, competing with both the rhyming text and words that appear in the accompanying cartoon illustrations (for instance, a welcome mat or a button with the phrase "Reading for the win!"). Kids learning to sound out words will enjoy predicting the text; after the protagonist observes, "As I sit sipping from my favorite MUG, / I'm gently pulled into a giant...," youngsters will eagerly shout out "HUG!" But on the whole, the attempt to blend a literacy tutorial with an exploration of how to be a good friend may prove overwhelming for the intended audience of pre-readers. A solid effort hampered by information overload. (author's notes, activities) (Picture book. 4-6)-- "Kirkus Reviews"

Publisher: Bound to Stay Bound Books

Pub date: 2025-08-01

Length: 32 pages