Parents' Guide to

Teach Your Monster to Read

By Mieke VanderBorght, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 4+

Fun, lengthy journey goes from basics to reading competency.

App iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire Paid Education
Teach Your Monster to Read Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this app.

  • Teach Your Monster to Read App: Screenshot #1
  • Teach Your Monster to Read App: Screenshot #2
  • Teach Your Monster to Read App: Screenshot #3
  • Teach Your Monster to Read App: Screenshot #4

Community Reviews

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age 4+

Based on 3 parent reviews

celk2015
celk2015 Adult
June 4, 2020
age 4+

This is a great program for little ones just learning to read.

The program is great! The repetition is what is needed to help them learn that each letter has its own sound(s). How to read letter combinations, and that changing one letter could change the word completely. The only downside is that it is a British accent (I do not have an issue with British accents normally). I wish they add a variety of english accents so as to not confuse a child that is just starting out. We are American, and though most words my child understands, but there are some where the accent becomes too heavy that he doesn't understand what is being said. For example, the word "again." In the British accent he thinks it says "a game." Another word is "thought."
SGMommy
SGMommy Adult
July 5, 2019
age 4+

Huge hit with 6 yo and mom

It seemed like my kindergarten could suddenly read everything, including words I thought would be really difficult (like thought and would). It turns out, he had been playing this game at school. He loves it! Over the summer we have been letting him play at home and he can't seem to get enough. There are about 10 mini games (maybe more, but I can think of ten off the top of my head) it cycles through and they change a bit as the player levels up. They can also dress and change their monster which my son really enjoys. I can't recommend this game highly enough. O will say it works much better on a touch screen than not.

This title has:

Easy to play/use
See all 3 parent reviews

What’s It About?

Start by designing a monster. Then, when your monster gets into trouble on a journey through space, step in and TEACH YOUR MONSTER TO READ. Lots of mini-games and challenges introduce basic reading concepts from letter sounds to phonemes to words to sentences. Kids can start at one of three points along the adventure: Level One for beginners, Level Two for kids already confident in basic letter sounds, and Level Three for kids ready to start reading short sentences. Once on a level, kids must progress through the whole program. Along the way they can collect items such as stars to buy accessories for their monsters and "trickies," which represent sight words.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3):
Kids say (1):

Early reading content gets slow, methodical, and thorough coverage in a complex intergalactic adventure. There's a lot of backstory in Teach Your Monster to Read, which may excite some kids but may be distracting for others. It also slows down the process of getting through the games, which also has its pros and cons. The presentation of content follows a reasonable sense of logic: The very early material focuses on single letter sounds and then graduates to blended letter sounds and simple consonant-vowel-consonant words. Finally, kids learn common sight words and sentences. It's a nice option to choose from three starting points, but it also might be nice to be able to choose a particular area to focus on if kids don't want to play through all the content. Since there are so many games, kids will often see repeats, but with lots of things happening in between each mini-game, they may not be bothered by it. It's important to note that the exact same content is available for free on the developer's website to play on the computer. Though it is easier to maneuver with the tablet's touchscreen, parents may want to give the free online version a try first. Overall, Teach Your Monster to Read has potential to be a wonderful way to accompany your kids to reading competency.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the sounds and words in Teach Your Monster to Read. Point out the concepts they're learning -- such sa letter sounds, sight words, or simple sentences -- through songs, alphabet games, books, and your everyday surroundings.

  • Read to your kids as often as you can. And as they get more confident in their reading skills, encourage them to read to you.

  • How do you get your kids to read? Are there ways to keep them reading once they're started? Check out Common Sense Media's expert article, How to Get Your Kids Reading.

App Details

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