Bedtime is story time in our house. With that being the major time that we are all together. Story time is a great way for me to teach little lessons through the books that I pick out. The kids don’t realize it is school and don’t fight me. The Prayer Monsters were the perfect fit into our bedtime story time.

The Fright family are no ordinary monsters. They have a loud and sometimes messy house, 5 kids and mom and dad. When problems arise, instead of getting mean and nasty, the Fright family come together and help each other.

Each of the three books brings up a problem that one of the Fright children must overcome. As the children and their family face these problems, we learn a prayer to help them, and us. The end of each book leaves us with a verse from the Bible that relates to the story and the problem that was solved.

In Pi Fright Skates into Trouble – A Story About Integrity, we see Pi struggle with temptation over a neighbor’s skateboard. What happens when Pi steals money from his family to go and buy a skateboard like the neighbor’s? Pi’s sister Tora teaches him her Prayer for Good Choices and we were all shocked by what happened at the end.

During R.J. Fright Kicks Away Her Fears – A Story About Trust, we learn that even the toughest monsters fear somethings. R.J. doesn’t want to admit her fears to anyone, especially her little sister. However, her little sister Tora has a Prayer for Protection that she teaches to R.J. This prayer helps R.J. learn to trust God when it comes to her fears. Sometimes, even a little sister can help a big sister overcome her fears.

Finally, in Tora Fright Patches Things Up – A Story About Forgiveness it is now Tora who needs help with prayer. When something special gets broken by accident by a little brother, it can be frustrating. Emotions can get out of hand. Mom helped Tora with a Prayer of Forgiveness to help her feel better. This helped to smooth things over and Tora made the best out of the situation.

I really enjoyed reading The Prayer Monsters to my children. They enjoyed listening to them and we enjoyed discussing them at the end. These monsters were just like us. They had similar problems that we face. The fact that we could see these problems in a fun book, and see how God can help us with our problems, was our favorite part of the books.

When looking for books to read aloud, I love those with lessons and messages, especially when they relate back to the Bible. These books had just that. If you look for the same things, you need to look at these books.

—Product review by Amanda Hopkins, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, January, 2018