Hold your monsters! Version 3.5 of Teach Your Monster to Read has now been released on all app stores and we've got some lovely little improvements in here, along with some 'quality of life' updates.

Words are now easier to hear

We know that there can be a whole load of background noise in the home or classroom whilst playing, so we've made the words louder and clearer. This follows on from release 3.4 when we made the phonemes easier to hear - which was very well received by parents, teachers and most importantly, children. We believe this is one of the most useful improvements we could make to the app at this time. We're really excited about how much this simple change can help children learn to read whilst playing the game.

Collectable stars can now be transferred between games

Previously a player couldn't carry their stars from the second game 'Fun with words' to the third game 'Champion Reader'. But now, any player who conscientiously saves their stars, can rightly carry them into 'Champion Reader'. So whether you save them up or spend them in the shop, your stars are always yours to use as you please.

The game is now full screen on iPhone X

The game now looks better on iPhone X and makes use of every pixel.

Help messages have been made clearer

and, well... a bit more helpful. Enough said, really.

We love to read your success stories and we want to know what you’d like added to the game, so please leave a review. As a charity with a mission to improve children's literacy, we want to make this game as great as it can possibly be.

We dedicate version 3.5 to everyone who has left us a review over the past year asking for the audio to be easier to hear. We've been listening (excuse the pun) and ramped up the quality and volume of the words and phonemes so your little ones can hear them better.

Do you like this release? Want to see more? Let us know.

Useful links

Download on iOS

Download on Google Play

How to use the game in the classroom

How to get kids playing at home

Teach Your Monster to Read, has now been played 100 million times across the world!

The award-winning educational game helps children learn to read by taking them on a magical journey, meeting colourful characters along the way and collecting fantastic rewards. As children teach their own monster to read, they rehearse a range of essential reading skills; matching letters to sounds, blending, segmenting, tricky words and reading full sentences.

Played millions of times by millions of children

• The first game is called 'Teach Your Monster to Read: First Steps' and it was launched 2013.
• There are now 3 games, which are available in one app on smartphone and tablet, as well as free on the web.
• The games have been played in almost every country in the world.
• Over 11 million children have now played the games.
• The games are played by around 1 to 2 million children every month.

Funded by the Usborne Foundation

The BAFTA-nominated game is funded by the Usborne Foundation, a charity set up by Peter Usborne and his children, Nicola and Martin, to support initiatives to develop early literacy. Teach Your Monster to Read also generates funds via app sales, which help to keep the game running as well as fund the foundation's new initiatives.

Find out more about the team behind the game

Our Bafta-nominated game is FREE on all app stores from Monday 4th March 2019 to Sunday 10th March 2019.

Helped over 10 million children learn to read

Teach Your monster to Read is the immensely popular game that makes learning to read fun. It has now been played almost 100 million times worldwide and helped over 10 million children learn to read.

The game was developed by The Usborne Foundation, a charity founded by children’s publisher, Peter Usborne MBE, with a mission to help children around the world learn to read.

We believe that every child should be given the opportunity to learn and develop. Giving our phonics and reading app away for free enables teachers and pupils to benefit from using the game in classrooms and at home.

Complements phonics programmes used in schools

The game covers everything from letters and sounds to reading full sentences. There are three levels which between them cover the first two years of the reading journey. Developed in conjunction with leading academics from the University of Roehampton, it is educationally robust and complements all synthetic phonics programmes used in schools.

Widely praised by teachers and parents across the globe

• The kids absolutely love this game - and they’re learning!
• I am using the app with my reception class. The children are loving it! They are all really keen to progress and can be heard talking to their monsters as they are working with each phoneme.
• Far and away the best reading tool we have found for our kids.
• I was stunned to see how much they enjoyed playing this. It blew me away.
• It’s phonics based approach is pedagogically sound and up to date with the latest thinking on the topic. All education software should be this well thought through.

Free period

The game will be free to download between Monday 4th March 2019 to Sunday 10th March 2019. Once downloaded, it will remain completely free to play on your device after this period.

Download on iTunes

Download on Google Play Store

Download on Amazon

Help our charity by spreading the word!

Example tweet / Facebook post: Get the BAFTA-nominated literacy app, Teach Your Monster to Read, for FREE this week only. Hurry, ends Sunday 10th March! apple.co/2f0Dgi1, amzn.to/2bXrdUe and tinyurl.com/GoogleTeachMonster #monsterscanread #phonics @monsterscanread

For press enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

The Teach Monster team has been tremendously busy working on the latest update to the game. We're so pleased to bring you version 3.3 of Teach Your Monster to Read, which is packed full of fun additions and 'quality of life' changes for your children to enjoy. Let's check out what's new!

• You can now dress your monster up as a princess, a superhero, a unicorn or a dinosaur! These new costumes are hidden throughout the 3 games. A special prize goes to the first monster to collect them all! Let us know if you manage to hunt them all down :)
• There are snazzy new certificates for every game your monster completes. This much-loved feature of the web version of the game has now been brought to the app. Tap on the trophy icon on the login screen to view your achievements.

• You can now play practice mode with logged in monsters. We’ve also improved the interface to make it easier to jump into the game.
• The popular running mini-game (you know... the one with the flowers) has been updated so it’s smoother to play.

• There are more exciting prizes in the first game and the stars you collect are now carried across all three games.
• Many small bugs have been fixed, including a multi-logout error, a keyboard bug when entering star codes and a proxy-related issue. We’ve also improved our error reporting in case of future ‘monsters in the system’.

All of this is thanks to your wonderful feedback and reviews. We read and respond to everything we can, so please keep them coming.

Very occasionally, the Teach Your Monster to Read app is completely free to download for a short period of time. Once you've downloaded the app, there's nothing to pay after the free period ends.

If you don't want to miss out when our app goes free on all app stores, simply join our mailing list today and you'll be the first to know when the app is next free.

We're giving away the Teach Your Monster to Read app for FREE until 30th September 2017!

FREE - Download on the Apple app store UK or USA

FREE - Download on Google Play store

FREE - Download on Amazon app store UK or USA

Teach Your Monster to Read is the award-winning game that helps children learn to read. We're delighted to be making the game accessible to more children at home and at school, by making it available for free on phones and tablets.

The game has been played over 20 million times, so helping even more children play through the app is an exciting development for everyone!

"As teachers and students head back to school after the summer break, this is the perfect time for people to download the app onto as many devices as they need to." says Peter Usborne, founder of The Usborne Foundation.

"We know that the cost of classroom resources can stack up, which is why we’re giving teachers the chance to get it for free."

The game, which is designed in collaboration with leading academics from Roehampton University, covers everything from letters and sounds to reading full sentences.

The free period starts around 24th/25th September and ends on 30th September. The price will revert back to £4.99 ($4.99) and all profits go back into the Usborne Foundation, enabling us to make more great learning resources.

FREE - Download on the Apple app store UK or USA

FREE - Download on Google Play store

FREE - Download on Amazon app store UK or USA

If your students have moved to another teacher’s class or year group then you can now transfer players to that teacher’s Teach Your Monster to Read account

Watch this video to see how to transfer players or read on.

Transfer a player

1. Click on ‘More’ next to the player’s name and in the drop-down go to ‘Edit/Transfer/Delete’.
2. Scroll down the player’s page and go to ‘Transfer player’.
3. Type in the email address of the new teacher (that teacher must have an account set up on Teach Your Monster to Read).

Transfer a whole group

Go to the group’s page and scroll down to the “Transfer Group” section.

Transfer a whole account

Go to Account Settings in your dashboard and scroll down to ‘Transfer Account’. You can either create a new account to which everything will move, or transfer everything to an existing account holder.

Teach Your Monster to Read fans love to share their passion for the game in all sorts of ways. We enjoy seeing pictures of your amazing monster creations and it's great to read all about how the monsters inspire children across the globe. Recently we received a beautiful poem written by Judith, from the perspective of her grandson, who loves to play Teach Your Monster to Read...

Most days I have extra fun

Teaching my monster to read

Dodging meteors then when done

I have my monster to feed.

We pop words into his mouth

He chomps them by the score

We journey north, west and south

Until we have some more.

I have trickies to chase and tickle

Until I catch them in my pocket.

Sometimes I get in quite a pickle

When I can’t guide my rocket

Lots of letter planets to explore

Adventures, challenges as we go

A secret gate, a hidden door

Stars to collect, paths to follow.

Passing goblins, spells to read

That part is quite hard

Because if I don’t succeed

My way ahead is barred.

So I try and try my very best

To read the goblin’s spell

I’ve done it ! (though it is a test)

I’m told I’ve done so well.

Soon my monster will love to read

Surrounded by his books

He’s had his words, a tasty feed

He grabs them with his hooks.

So now my monster lives with me

We both love reading together

As I sit upon his knee

Monster friend and I forever.

By Judith from the perspective of her grandson James.

Do you have any inspiring creations of your own? Let us know on Facebook or email. We'd love to hear from you.

We’re excited to announce that Teach Your Monster to Read is now available for Android and iPad tablets as well as phones.

The new app includes these fantastic features:

• All three games are included, covering 2 years of the reading journey.
• Connects and syncs to the online version of the game - great for teachers and students.
• Multiple player accounts are now available on one device.

It is available on the App Store, Google Play and also Amazon. They are priced at £4.99/$4.99 and all profits from the app go back to the Usborne Foundation to create free online content and resources.

What do people think of Teach Your Monster to Read?

“My class have reaped loads of benefits from using the programme and the difference in some of their reading skills has been dramatic." Maria Andrews, Foundation Phase Teacher

This game is the absolute best quality phonics game I have come across for educational and fun value.
Marie Lewis, Rochdale

Read the reviews here: http://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/reviews

We have now finished testing the apps and we will be ready to launch in the next few days.

Thank you to all those that have tested.