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! This is the wonderful tale of a lonely beast, whose determination to overcome his isolation leads him to undertake a daring and dangerous quest to find others like him . 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. They are unaware that others exist so they spend their time in solitaire tending to their gardens, drinking tea (alone), reading books (I particularly like that), experiencing the elements around them and enjoying the fruit (cakes, pies, cupcakes etc.

Used within the year 2 class during placement 1a, this book looks at the arrival of a big black flurry beast to a big city and how he can make friends and feel less lonely. The illustrations are beautiful and add to the story of a beast who is all alone and looking for friends, which everyone needs. After a series of English lessons linked to this topic, I think this book was absolutely perfect for improving children's Literacy skills. I would recommend reading this book in the classroom, as many cross-curricular activities can be planned around it.The text and illustrations really help portray the theme of loneliness which is so important to talk about with children. The Lonely Beast’ is a great book to encourage KS1 children to enjoy books whilst developing their curriculum grammar abilities.

As he begins to feel lonely he decides to go on a journey to find others that he can be friends with. 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 . A very endearing main character (who manages to be expressive even with an almost complete lack of features. Combining the key messages of overcoming obstacles and never giving up, the story encourages KS1 grammar with constant noun phrases, lists and use of the past tense.Before christmas I had never heard of this book before, but I enjoyed doing it, and it lent itself to lots of fun activities. He comes to the realization that he misses his garden and his home turf so much and finally comes to the realization that that is where he belongs. Thanks to the local school this story has a wider back story for us - did the lonely beast travel through our small village at some point on his travels?

However, I would recommend this for early elementary quickly as it has a simple storytime and is great for practicing empathy. Even beasts do not want to be alone in this big old world and loneliness is not a happy emotion to experience. 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.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. 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. However, I would argue that the story spreads the message that you can only completely overcome loneliness when you are with other people who are just like you.

It is a bit long for a regular storytime, at least for the age I do storytime for which is baby, toddler and preschool. This beast is not scary and a fun way to show kids a little bit of a journey of the world We laughed. The people give into their curiosity and slowly come back and connect with this big, black, gentle giant.

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. He uses his celebrity status to go on talk radio shows, have interviews with the local newspapers and do guest appearances on t. I like the message here: we might not always be able to see the fruit (or point) of our labours straight away.