Review: I Will Read to You

I Will Read to You
Written by Gideon Sterer
Illustrated by Charles Santoso
New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2023. Picture Book.

Every night, a mother asks her son if she can read to him. He always chooses a scary story, one filled with goblins, witches, and monsters. But one night, the boy wonders who reads to the monsters. Dressed in a monster costume, the boy and his mother set out to find each and every monster and read to them. They encounter vampires, ghosts, and dragons. He reads a story to thousands of monsters as they drift off to sleep. Finally, the boy and his mother return home, and she reads to him.

The rhyming text is amazing, and the illustrations perfectly fit the Halloween aesthetic. Kids and adults will love trying to find the little brown monster that is hiding on each page as they encounter all kinds of strange creatures. The child is thoughtful and empathetic as he recognizes one of his favorite daily activities, having his mother read to him, may not be the norm for others, namely monsters. As he sets out to read to each monster, children will not only get in the spirit of Halloween, but the spirit of caring.

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