July children's bookclub choice: Rory and the Monstersitter - apply for a free copy

I passed this book on to my 3 year old nephew. His mum says: J was very excited. I read it for the first time with him so was as surprised by the twist as he was. Initially at the end he looked at me a little nonplussed, not really understanding what it meant, when I explained he was still a little unsure and needed to be reassured that it was all pretend. That said, the following night he did want the story reading again. The second time he enjoyed it more but did look a little worried that they were really going to eat the post man or really did eat the babysitter. I had to reassure him they didn't as he thought that was a little scary. So all in all interesting,fun, but possibly a little scary for a 3 year old.

This picture book is fantastic. My daughter is still a bit young (3yr) to get her head around the sense of humour and the plot twist, but this will clearly be a favourite book. I look forward to sharing it with my son in a few years as well.

I love a picture book with a fabulous twist and a delicious sense of humour ... Rosie Reeve's latest, Rory and the Monstersitter, delivers on both counts.

On the first read out loud, little listeners don't see that twist coming or that fab ending! It certainly led to lots of giggles and a few gasps too. Subsequent readings are rewarded as they pick up on the little clues that are scattered in the narrative - perfect!

I have an almost 2 year old and 3.5 year old. The book went over the head of my two year old, other than he enjoyed pointing out the pictures of the cakes. My 3 year old daughter was interested in the book and there were things to point out in the illustrations and discuss, however, the ending was totally missed by her and she was perplexed as to what happened, especially as we never see babysitter, so story requires more imagination to put pieces together. That said, she loved the story and asked for repeat readings. I have to say that the illustrations were brilliant and well-observed, worthy of a feature length cartoon.

What a lovely book with amazing pictures my boy is just over 2 and a half and loves me ready it to him. He loves the pictures !

Took this book on holiday and my 5 yr old loved it had to explain the ending as she didn't quite understand were the babysitter had gone!! However she did have a smile on her face and said 'disgusting!'.

Thanks

I must say I wasn't entirely impressed with this book. The text and length of the book is aimed at young children but I think the plot and twist of the story is aimed at older children as my DS who has not long turned 5 was a little confused by the ending and I had to explain it to him. On a plus point, the pictures were lovely and my children did enjoy looking at those. It's a shame as I was looking forward to reading this book with my children and the title and blurb sounded like something they would like. I think if I put it away until they are a bit older and they are able to understand the plot, the length of the book and amount of text will then be too 'young' for them.

My girls were so excited when a book was posted through the letterbox! They insisted on us reading it straight away. As with some others, my 4 year old really enjoyed the pictures and earlier pages of the book but was a bit confused by the ending. My nearly 6 yr old enjoyed the whole book. Very pleased to have been picked to receive a book. Thanks Mumsnet.

Thank you for the book. We read it straight away as it made it out of the packaging. I think my younger children (nearly 5 and nearly 3) didn't get the joke and my eldest - 8 just stoically accepted it. We kept going back to it so I guess it grabbed their attention. It is beautifully illustrated.

My kids like gruesome stuff so they loved it.

We really enjoyed this book, it had a funny twist, and a great sense of humour. We all laughed at the end! Beware babysitters! Thanks for giving us the opportunity to read this. BTW my DC are 4.5 and 6 yrs old.

Thank you for our copy! DS (3yo) loved the pictures and the most part of the story but, as seems a common response from other mums with young children, he didn't really understand the ending. I think I'm going to keep it in a cupboard for a couple of years until he's a big older and read it with him when he 'gets it'. Really loved the illustration and storyline though.

Love The Pilot and the Little Prince. The illustrations gorgeous and the pages without any words at all leave time for pondering the story.

I really like this book, my 3 year old didn't get the joke but enjoyed hearing about the disgusting food being eaten. My 7 year old really enjoyed the story and found the food being eaten hilarious and also understood the joke and found it highly amusing that they might have eaten their babysitter!

So great book for my 7 year old and I'm sure my 3 year old will enjoy it even more when he gets to the stage of understanding the joke.

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Ds (5) liked the illustrations and the silly food but didn't get what had happened until I asked him what he thought had happened to the babysitter! I've posted my review in the review section.

Thanks for the book, DD loved the images and the story, but especially loved the twist in the end, but she is going through a gory patch.

Thanks so much, it's read so frequently that I know it by heart, and DD can now read and write monster

We were delighted to receive Rory and the Monstersitter book. I read it to my three year old. He loved all the interesting food that Rory cooks. For us the topic of a baby sitter was useful as he has only been baby sat by my parents but it will be useful to read when the time comes for babysitters. However I think he was too young for the twist in the book. It scared him slightly. Being a teacher tho I know that 5/6/7 year olds would love it!

My 4 yr old dd loves this book, thank you. We are new to Rosie Reeve so will be looking out for her other books for the summer holidays. Dd loved the food descriptions and the illustrations and colours really caught her attention. It has been her go to story book for the last three evenings and has pride of place on on the top of her stack of books on her bedside table. Similar to another poster, my dd didn't quite get the twist at the end on the first reading, I did have to explain but on the second reading she was ready to shout 'yuck'. Think the illustrations really make this book. Thanks again.

Thank you for our copy of this book. I read it with my 2 year old this morning. He is a big fan of cooking and eating, so he enjoyed the first part of the book. I think that the reveal went right over his head, but it entertained me at least. We enjoyed the illustrations as well, very nice and bright. I think that 2 is a bit too young to understand the story, but I'm sure that we will return to it in the future.

I love the book - still a bit too much for my little son but I am sure it will become a favourite. I love the Little Prince, and the illustration in this book are really beautiful.

Hilarious! This will be a favourite for a while. I shall think of it as a gift for other children too.

Loved it and didn't see the ending coming at all - which had us rolling around with laughter. This will be a favourite that is read over and over again.

THE PILOT & THE LITTLE PRINCE - REVIEW

This book arrived in the post this morning ... and couldn't have been better timed.

My eldest son is off school today, sickly and very out of sorts, just wanting to sit and cuddle - so I read the book to him cover to cover. What a beautiful tale and we marvelled at the illustrations. My son has always loved being read to.

It's my middle son's 9th Birthday on Sunday and I just know that he will love this book as a special little gift. Not only for the lovely illustrations but for the insightful text and geographical references. I believe he will get as much joy from this as I did when I read Le Petit Prince when I was a child.

This book is a wonderfully accessible memoir for little people.

Thank you for sharing such a literary gift.

DS (4) has read this but it just didn't grab us enough. He also read this as a library book - it has about 20 words in it and had DS howling with laughter. The Rory book - didn't raise a smirk.

I'm just not sure he know what to make of it.