Item: Teach Monster: Reading for Fun
Rating: 92
Author: Dinsun

Dinsun Review

Let's be frank: as a 40-year-old reviewer, games like Teach Your Monster to Read aren't built for my Saturday night entertainment. But looking at it objectively through the lens of educational software, it's hard not to respect the craftsmanship here. The progression structure actually teaches phonics methodically without feeling like an aggressive flashcard simulator. Kids get to design a goofy monster, explore vibrant environments, and complete bite-sized minigames that directly tie mechanical success to reading comprehension.

Is it going to challenge my reflexes or tell a gripping narrative about moral ambiguity? Of course not. But from a design perspective, it avoids the cheap, ad-riddled monetization traps that plague most children's apps on mobile app stores. It respects the player's time and attention span. While I can't hand out an elite score to a preschool phonics trainer, it earns solid marks for executing its educational mandate with genuine charm and zero predatory practices.

Overall Stats

Pros & Cons

Thorough, well-structured phonics curriculum
Charming character customization and world design
Completely free of predatory ads and microtransactions

Zero replay value for adult or older audiences
Repetitive phonics drills can wear thin over long sessions
Requires dedicated adult supervision for younger children

Technical Report

Performance: Flawless performance, highly responsive touch interactions, and zero noticeable bugs.

Accessibility:

Subtitles
Difficulty Presets

Audience Fit

Buy if: Parents and educators looking for a proven, ad-free phonics learning game for young children.

Skip if: Anyone past early elementary school looking for traditional entertainment gaming.

Similar Games:

ABCmouse
PBS KIDS Games
Duolingo ABC

Reviewer Context

Reviewer: Dinsun
Hardware: iPad Air
Playtime: 3 hours
Status: Evaluated Curriculum

The Game

Available on: iPhone, iPad, iPod

1512939054

$7.99 4+★4.5 13656 reviews

Author : Teach Your Monster

Pubish Date : Wed Jul 21 2021

Last Update Date : Mon Jun 16 2025

Support Languages : English

Genres :

Version 1.6Mon Jun 16 2025

◆ The Chapter 5 Update
Chapter 5 is here!
Play through Days 26–30 and uncover some very suspicious goings-on in the village... Can your monster save the day?
New book unlocked!
Add The Book-Eating Dragon to your monster’s library – an exciting new reward for brave readers!
Bug Fix
We’ve fixed a login issue affecting some players. Thanks for your patience!
Love the update?
Leave us a review—we read every single one and it means the world to us!
Requires iOS 12.1 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
From the charity behind the award-winning Teach Your Monster to Read comes Teach Monster – Reading For Fun, a brand new game that encourages kids to have fun and enjoy reading! Designed with experts from the UK’s Roehampton University to get kids reading more, Teach Monster – Reading For Fun inspires kids to explore a magical village full of fascinating facts and spellbinding stories.
Customise your own monster, make friends with colourful characters and collect over 70 free ebooks courtesy of Usborne, Okido, Otter-Barry and more. The game encourages children of all ages to read for pleasure and is perfect to play at home or school, alongside Teach Your Monster to Read or on its own.
There are hours of reading fun, from following signposts and reading aloud with Goldspear the librarian, to discovering books which help you bake delicious cakes and find treasure. It’s up to you to choose what to explore and when, but hurry, the villagers need your help. Your monster must use all its wisdom, skill and bravery to stop the book-eating goblin from causing chaos in the village and eating all the books!
WHY READING FOR FUN?
• Boost your child’s reading confidence
• Develop your child’s empathy, as they put themselves in different characters’ shoes and develop an understanding of the wider world
• Improve your child’s skills in reading for different purposes, from recipes, to signposts and instructions
• Read books with friends. Choose brand new books, or re-read old favorites
• Create positive screen time for children in a fun environment
• Collect over 70 brilliant free ebooks from Usborne, Okido, Otter-Barry and more.
Reading for pleasure is a proven method to transform literacy skills and academic performance in children. The pedagogy of reading for pleasure within this game has been developed in close collaboration with educational experts from the UK’s Roehampton University.
BE PART OF A READING COMMUNITY
• Make friends and help out the villagers with quests that require reading
• Pop into the village library to read along with Goldspear, Coco and more
• Read different kinds of texts, from signposts and instructions to entire fiction and non-fiction books
• Complete jobs to get rewarded with books for your monster’s bookshelf
• Solve challenges and follow the story as it unfolds, read recipes to make treats, or go on quests to overcome the book-eating goblin.
• Discover new authors, poems, stories and a series of children’s books that you’ll love.
Created by Teach Your Monster, Reading for Fun is part of The Usborne Foundation, a charity founded by children’s publisher, Peter Usborne MBE. Harnessing research, design and technology, Teach Your Monster is a non-profit organisation that creates playful media to address issues from literacy to health.
What are you waiting for? Take your monster on an epic reading adventure today!

Ratings & Reviews

4.5 out of 5 with 13656 Counts

★★★★★

Age Rating 4+

Teach Your Monster Reading for Fun is an acclaimed, research-backed educational game that takes children on a magical journey to learn essential reading skills. Developed in collaboration with literacy experts, the game combines rigorous phonics instruction with engaging gameplay, colorful characters, and rewarding progression. Children design their own monster and travel across fantastic islands, meeting fun characters, playing literacy mini-games, and building confidence in letter recognition, blending, and sight words. It transforms what can often be a challenging learning process into an exciting adventure that kids want to return to every day.

Features

Covers the first two years of learning to read, from letters to full books

Designed in collaboration with leading educational experts

Safe, kid-friendly environment with no in-app purchases during gameplay

Engaging rewards and customization options that keep children motivated

Gameplays

Phonics Mini-Games

Engage in fast-paced, interactive challenges where matching sounds to letters, spelling words, and reading short sentences unlocks new paths and rewards.

Q&A

It is primarily designed for children aged 3-6 who are starting their early reading and phonics journey.

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