This is the tale of one such Beast, whose determination to overcome his loneliness leads him to undertake a daring and dangerous quest to find others like him . This beast is not scary and a fun way to show kids a little bit of a journey of the world We laughed.

The Lonely Beast by Chris Judge is great book to use within KS1 to discuss 'fitting in' or to be used whilst covering a journeys topic alongside our supporting Twinkl worksheets, activities and games. This particular kind of beast I am talking about is extremely rare - in fact there is only one in each country of the world and you know what? Even beasts do not want to be alone in this big old world and loneliness is not a happy emotion to experience.

A very endearing main character (who manages to be expressive even with an almost complete lack of features. Although the plot is not one of my favourites, I liked the obstacles that the beast had to overcome, the symmetry of the book as he travels from and back to his home, the moral, and of course, the colourful illustrations are a great strength.

His rigorous adventures leads him over land and sea (and underneath the sea) until he finds himself in a great big bustling city, full of crowds of people. It was a perfect text for my Y2 class for during the most recent period of lockdown where some were feeling a little lonely, just like the beast. Not a standard kids story but a lovely circular life story that’s completely child and adult friendly - and some professions should be spelled with capitals! Moreover, the illustrations portrayed emotion really well which would be interesting to use in PSHE and investigating themes surrounding empathy, perseverance, loneliness, and making friends.The Lonely Beast’ is a great book to encourage KS1 children to enjoy books whilst developing their curriculum grammar abilities.