Common Sense Media Review
By Ashley Moulton
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Friendly beast teaches preschoolers how to manage emotions.
Parents Need to Know
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Love Monster
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Love Monster is a preschool series based on the popular books by Rachel Bright. It follows the everyday adventures of Love Monster, a scruffy teddy-toting preschooler that stands out as the only monster in a town of cute animals. Every day, the residents of Fluffytown celebrate a new holiday like "Sharing with Others Day" or "Bouncy Slidey Day." Love Monster has to navigate challenges preschoolers can relate to, like the internal battle between wanting to share chocolates with friends while wanting to eat them all yourself at the same time. He spends his days with his best friend Tiniest Fluffiest Bunny, other young animals of Fluffytown, and the town elders (including an Elder Panda character voiced by George Takei). Each episode is neatly tied up with the narrator summarizing that day's takeaway (like: "it's easier to face something scary with a friend"). Every day Love Monster and his friends are working on becoming wise like the elders, and viewers can take Love Monster's lessons and apply them to their own lives.
Is It Any Good?
Love Monster is a heartwarming show that kids and parents will find easy to love. The lead character is a perfect reflection of preschoolers' inner worlds (though, this being a cartoon, he also lives alone and reads the newspaper in the morning). Each episode focuses on a problem that will feel very relevant to young kids, like being afraid of going down the big slide at the bouncy castle. As the kids of Fluffytown face these challenges, they are superb at naming emotions and communicating them to each other.
As a result, the social-emotional lessons illustrated by the plots will seem very real to kids and not too heavy-handed. There's also a focus on how it's okay that kids are still learning how to handle tough situations, and that they will keep learning these skills even when they're "elders." Kids will be drawn to Love Monster for the silly and adorable world he lives in, but they'll stay for the sweet stories about navigating growing up.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the lesson Love Monster learns in each story. What did he learn, and how? How can you practice this idea in your life?
Love Monster and Tiniest Fluffiest Bunny are best friends. What are some ways they are good friends to each other? How do they practice empathy, or taking care of other people?
Love Monster and his friends are really good at talking about their emotions. How can we practice communicating what we're feeling inside?
TV Details
- Premiere date : January 27, 2020
- Cast : Sarah Hadland , Tamsin Greig , Darren Foreman , George Takei
- Network : Max
- Genre : Educational
- Topics : Book Characters , Animals , Friendship , Fantasy
- Character Strengths : Communication , Empathy
- TV rating :
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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