Blue Monster
Review posted September 12, 2026.
Otter-Barry Books. 36 pages.
Review written August 25, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review
This book surprised me into laughing out loud when I opened it up to read. The titular Blue Monster looks friendly and sweet. The story plays out on a bright yellow background. As the book opens, Blue Monster is bored, and asks Rabbit to play with him. But Rabbit doesn't hear him because he's fast asleep.
When Blue Monster wakes up Rabbit, he doesn't want to play because he wants to sleep.
So Blue Monster swallowed Rabbit.
But Rabbit's friend saw what happened. Blue Monster is feeling embarrassed, so he swallows Rabbit's friend, too.
And so it goes. This is my favorite exchange:
"Have you seen the rabbits anywhere?" asked Raccoon.
"I didn't swallow them," answered Blue Monster, but he looked a bit shifty.
So Raccoon said, "You did swallow them, didn't you?"
What does Blue Monster do? I'll bet you can guess.
I like the way the book connects feeling uncomfortable emotions with Blue Monster's actions. And the background color shifts to blue and more subdued.
Now Blue Monster felt VERY bad.
He knew that swallowing friends is not a nice thing to do.
Besides, now there was definitely nobody who would play with him.
But no worries! When Blue Monster sits down, feeling sad, a bit lonely, and very guilty, he yawns - and all the animals climb out of his mouth (which conveniently has no teeth).
They all looked a bit cross, which, to be fair, was quite understandable.
The animals have a long chat. Blue Monster tells them how sorry he is, and after a stern talking-to that swallowing friends is not nice, he promises never to do it again, and we end with the animals playing nicely together and having lots and lots of fun.
And my description doesn't do justice to the charm of this book. Of course it would be a perfect vehicle for what's a good way to deal with uncomfortable emotions, and that we really shouldn't swallow our friends. Also that everybody makes mistakes - there's a nice model of apology and forgiveness.
And besides, it's a sweet story that will make you smile.