I read this book to my 5 and 7 year old and they were pretty entertained. I thought the illustration was just OK and the story flowed pretty well, although the beginning was kinda eh. This would be a good younger kids book I think!

Thanks to NetGalley and NorthSouth Books for a free copy of this book in return for an honest review. So, as many have said this is sort of a retelling of Country Mouse and City Mouse, but with the illustrations it works. Leo goes out to the country to visit his friend Zoe. He wanders outside and eventually rushes in to tell her that he has seen a monster. Each clue gives us some fresh illustrations as what it could be, and eventually all the clues point to one of Zoe's friends not a monster. Simple tale of exaggeration of the unknown, but I did enjoy this book!

I requested and received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and North South Books Inc. in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the illustrations; the pictures were so vibrant. This book was a cute book about monsters and misconceptions. I love that Zoe (farm mouse) was not worried about the monster that Leo (city mouse) found while he was out enjoying the fresh air. This book will help kids understand that things can be scary the first time we see them, even if they are just farm animals.

#LeosMonster #NetGalley

I would expect nothing less from the author of The Rainbow Fish! Leo’s Monster was beautifully illustrated with vibrant colors and scenes that tickle the imagination! The storyline was easy to follow and enjoy. The text was large enough to read. A wonderful children’s book!!

Marcus Pfister brings another wonderful tale to the world of chidlren's storybooks. The art style was just as stunning as one has grown to expect from the author of such titles as Rainbow Fish. A silly tale with a good lesson - sometimes things aren't quite as scary at they can seem!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This one was cute, but not very exciting. There didn't seem to be all that much story. The illustrations were also cute, but again, nothing overly interesting.

Beautiful illustrations and fun story. Not a lot of depth as it is a little short and ends quickly. It would appeal most to toddlers.

Thank you NetGalley and NorthSouth Publications for providing this ARC.

This was a really cute little book. I read it to my almost eleven month old son as I was putting him down for a nap and he seemed to enjoy the illustrations and my impressions of Leo's voice when he was scared 😂 This is a short read that makes for a perfect book before a nap or bedtime. Thank you to Netgalley for sharing it with me.

The illustrations for this book are very cute and appropriate to the story. However the premise is simply another telling of Aesops's fable of "The Country Mouse and The City Mouse" with a more updated and simplified story for younger children.

This isn't a bad book it's just not very exciting. My audience was a 4 year old so perhaps a toddler would find it more amusing.

The book was very eye catching and we enjoyed finding that the monster was just a cow, cute but not really surprising.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

will post to Amazon upon publication

This is a lovely, simple book about a town mouse, Leo, visiting his cousin, Zoe, in the countryside. While he is exploring he meets a monster who frightens the life out of him.

I read this with my grandson, also called Leo, and he really enjoyed it. He is only two and so we read half of it and then came back to it later. He guessed what the monster was and felt very pleased with himself.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers and would recommend it to anyone who wants a quick read with lovely illustrations and an easy to understand story. I would suggest an age range up to about six.

This is too cute! I found myself as a 25 year-old invested in determining what type of creature Leo was referring to.

The illustration was just wonderful!

Leo's Monster by Marcus Pfister is a beautiful little book that I will be excited to share. When I saw that it was by the author of The Rainbow Fish, one of my favorite books of my own childhood, I knew I had to read it, and I was not disappointed. Leo, the city mouse, visits his friend Zoe in the country side for the first time, and he is not prepared for what he will encounter. As before, his illustrations are stunning and really add to the story he is telling. He made this a fun read that will be so easy to make entertaining when reading to your little ones.

This book was a bigger hit with my youngest two than I was expecting. As an adult, it’s so clear even just from the cover what the big “twist” is going to be. And the kids knew straight away too. However, for them, knowing in advance did nothing to ruin the story. They loved the way Leo describes his “monster” and loved even more the illustrations of what Zoe imagines based on Leo’s story. Again, no suspense, but a lot of laughter and fun.

If you’ve got kids with a lot of imagination, they’d probably get a kick out of this book. My eldest is too old to be interested now, but I suspect that even at this book’s target age his more black and white mind would have found this story less entertaining than his siblings did.

These illustrations in this book are fantastic! They’re so imaginative. The story is also really adorable. It shows to get over your fears!

Review of eBook

The imaginative illustrations are the highlight of this book; in addition, the idea of the city mouse discovering a frightening “monster” on his visit to the country is cute. And, as the story unfolds, Zoe’s calmness nicely counteracts Leo’s fright.

But the message in this story isn’t one for young children. There’s Leo’s sarcasm [“If it had spit fire, I’d hardly be standing here now, would I?”], an attitude that’s so out of place in a story that’s supposed to mystify and entertain young readers. And why does Zoe tease Leo [“Did it spit fire?” and “Oh come on, now you really are exaggerating!”] when he’s so frightened? She is supposed to be Leo’s friend . . . why isn’t she even a little sympathetic in the face of his obvious fear? Sure, she knows the monster isn’t really a monster, but it’s as if she’s having mean-spirited fun at her friend’s expense.

Written for the young reader [preschool through second grade, ages four through eight], most are likely to guess the true nature of the monster long before the big reveal that abruptly ends this disappointing story.

I received a free copy of this eBook from North South Books Incorporated and NetGalley
#LeosMonster #NetGalley

This was a very cute story that both my daughter and I really enjoyed, especially once the monster was finally revealed.

Leo's Monster is a cute, little story with absolutely marvelous pictures!

There's tow little mice, Leo and Zoe, who lead the show in this book. Leo visits Zoe and comes across a giant monster (and to be clear, it's NOT the cat). As Leo tells his story about the scary and insane monster, Zoe keeps butting in and trying to give some descriptions. Will Leo ever tell Zoe about this monster? Will the monster be taken care of?! What sort of animal is this monster?!

I have to start out saying the pictures blew me away. I love wonderful art that works well with a story, and this book hit it out of the park! The soft, fuzzy and colourful pictures were A grade. There's so much texture and it works really well! I don't think every reader will like this art style, but it stood out to me. This type of style isn't common in the books that I've read and seen.

The plot itself was super goofy and lots of fun. I would say that this book is designed for fun and not education purposes. Either way, I think it would be a great reading buddy read or for parents to pick up and have a chuckle with their kids. The book is super cute and full of personality.

The word "suspenseful" has been thrown around about this book, and I would agree - suspenseful in the cutest way possible. I'm sure the kids who read this will be on the edge of their seat trying to figure out what kind of monster Leo has seen!

Overall, this book is cute, fun and spunky! I would highly recommend it for kids who just want to have a good laugh.

Sweet story with beautiful art. Zoe the city mouse runs terrified to her friend Leo and tries to tell him all about a terrible monster. Her imagination runs wild and is cleverly shown in the illustrations. Cute and funny.

Leo, a city mouse, visits with Zoe, a country mouse for the very first time in the countryside. Zoe is baking a cake and leaves Leo to look around outside while she runs in to check on it. Happily Leo bounds out into the open air and into a scary encounter.

When Zoe returns she finds her friend scared and trembling. Whatever could be the cause of such fright? Leo finally stammers out that he just saw a ... MONSTER! Oh my!

Leo describes the monster to his friend: enormous tail that whips around, hard lumpy feet that can trample you, a long tongue that can rip half the earth apart and tear out trees, and two pointed horns that can gore you. This is some serious, dangerous creature. But is scary monster truly as bad as Leo imagines and describes to his friend?

The bestselling author of "The Rainbow Fish" series crafts a tale that is full of mystery, suspense and intrigue. Kids will have fun trying to guess what the actual monster really is and giggle when they discover the truth. The illustrations enrich the story. I recommend "Leo's Monster" to be read aloud as it is a captivating tale and that will have kids engaged right to the very end of the story.

This is an interesting mesh of the Country Mouse and the City Mouse and The Five Blind Men and an Elephant. Does it work? Sort of.

A city mouse is scared of a monster in the field, but the country mouse sort of figures out what it is ahead of time.

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/leos-monster.png" alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5490" />

And I have to say, a beast like that would frighten a mouse. We used to have a cow that lived across the way from us, and it had a very loud moo.

Kids might like it the first time they read it, but I don't think it is a book they would re-read.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.