This is a great beginning chapter book for late primary/early junior students who like a fun story. Do you know that a monster lives under your bed? Do you know his/her name? Is he/she scary or nice? Leo has a monster living under his bed and he is scared that it will grab his ankles. He is too afraid to get out of the bed to go to the bathroom, until one night he has no choice. He politely asks the monster to stay under the bed and do nothing and surprisingly it listens. That is the start of their friendship. Each chapter has a new adventure for Leo and Fred including naming him, teaching a bully a lesson and going to school for "Show and Tell". This is a short book, but it is a great book for kids to read, showing them that their fears aren't so bad. This is a great book for school, public, classroom and family libraries. Young children will enjoy this book and get a laugh from it as well. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley. ( )

When monster can be your best friends too. A book filled with spooks and laughs. Everyone young and old will enjoy Fred the monster. He knows how to scare you but is a great friend and helps when you get bullied. Illustration were perfect for each scene. ( )

Leo, a skinny white boy with messy brown hair, has a problem. There is a monster under his bed. He just knows it! Launching himself across the room, he huddles in bed all night...until one night the need for the bathroom is just too much and he TALKS to the monster. Turns out, the monster's actually pretty nice, even though it's his job to scare Leo. Once they've started talking, Leo helps the monster pick a name (Fred) and even takes him to school to introduce him to the other kids. Fred shows off his scary skills, even using them to take revenge on a mean neighbor kid who comes over for a playdate and breaks Leo's toys. Leo and Fred end the story as friends, even if Fred doesn't always quite understand things!

The layout and art of this story reminded me of Princess in Black. Jack's pictures are colorful and have a slick, digital shine to them. Fred is a looming, rather messy brown monster who looks a bit like Sully from Monsters Inc. The book is a slightly oversized hardcover with simple, bold text and vocabulary suited to younger grades.

Verdict: This fills a need for beginning chapters with a younger feel for very young, fluent readers - kindergarten through 1st grade - who still like the humorous, innocent stories. It would also make a fun read-aloud. A fun additional choice, if not a necessary one.

ISBN: 9781770495531; Published 2017 by Tundra; Review copy provided by publisher for Cybils; Donated to the library

I loved this book! I read it out loud for my husband, and had a blast doing the different voices! This book, in my opinion, will be very helpful for little ones suffering from the fear of monsters in your room/under your bed. The book itself was a lovely hardback with fun illustrations! ( )

I received this book through the early reviewers group and I expected a thin children's book. What a nice surpise that it is a beautifully illustrated hard cover book with lots of pages. At first I thought, oh no a kid that has fears of monsters under the bed shouldn't be read this story but I have changed my mind. This book is cute and humorous and clearly shows children that confronting their fears head on overcomes their problems and may even have a nice surprise at the end of the conflict. I am very pleased to have this book to add to my collection. Well done! ( )