Must Have: This LOL Beginner Chapter Book

Monster and Boy
Written by Hannah Barnaby & Illustrated by Anoosha Syed
Age Level: 4-9 Years
Published July 28, 2020

A sweet, silly, and suspenseful monster book.

Monster lives happily under Boy's bed. He has lived there for many years. He loves the smell of Boy's stinky socks, the sound of his voice, and his snoring. One night, Boy's mother reads him a bedtime story about monsters. When she finishes, Boy's mother assures her son, "There's no such thing as monsters."

Monster is offended! He waits for the boy's mother to leave the room, and then crawls out from underneath the bed. Boy freezes, takes a deep breath, and opens his mouth wide to .... GULP! In a panic, Monster swallows the boy. And that is the beginning of a wonderful adventure and a beautiful friendship. 

"The monster was instantly sorry that he'd swallowed the boy. The boy felt strange in his stomach, heavy and nervous. The monster did not like how it felt, and also he missed the boy terribly."

Later that night, Monster coughs up Boy. To Monster's horror, Boy is teeny tiny, about the size of a grasshopper. Monster feels terribly, he didn't mean to make his beloved Boy little! They spend the night coming up with a plan to bring Boy back to his normal size, and you and your little one will be laughing at the mishaps and antics along the way. (Teddy was giggling uncontrollably when Monster accidentally dropped Boy into the toilet. Because potty humor is always a hit. Always.)  

Monster and Boy is the very first chapter book that Teddy and I read together and it got him completely hooked on this new genre of "big kid" books. He loved it so much that we read it three times in a row (over the course of many bedtimes) before he was willing to move on to something new. 

With cartoon illustrations to accompany the text on every single page, this book is phenomenal both for early independent readers or for reading aloud to younger children who are just dipping their toes into the wonderful new world of chapter books.