A simple story – perhaps too simple. Bullwrinkle the heroic shar pei mutt is chasing his ball into the woods – you know, the dark and dangerous woods he shouldn't go into alone – and finds it in a horrid muddy puddle. The only way to get it out is to follow it in, but lo and behold there's a mud monster sharing the space – or is there?

The book is a simple enough read, although not really as billed as funny, nor suitable for three year olds. It teaches the merit in rules about straying off the beaten path, and so on, and ultimately honesty, as Bully is of half a mind to make something up to explain his muddiness. But it also leaves you in doubt as to if the mud monster was real or not, potentially making this an introduction to the whole unreliable narrator concept. I mean we can see the images, the monster is real, but if you are over a youngster's shoulder explaining how violent a pup struggling out of a puddle might look, it might start to make someone suspicious of the truth.

So yeah, possibly too simple, as I say, and possibly something to cause a whole philosophical debate. And good luck getting the one you want from this and not the other. I think this is three and a half star material – it's not overwhelmingly good, for sure, but it seems to suggest a decent enough franchise to come, with both a fairly likeable lead character and mindset.

The book was cute but it claims to have a message about listening and following family rules for child safety which I feel was just not there. There was nothing in this story that I felt would encourage children to listen to their parents or follow rules and the only consequence to not following the rules was actually a reward since it was one of his favorite things. There was no real message of safety or listening.

This book was cute. It's about dogs that lose their ball in the woods. Bullwrinkle goes after it and gets all dirty and scared by the "mud monster". The middle of the book isn't very colorful though and my son lost interest for a couple pages.

Oh my gosh! How many of us know kids who like to tell stories to get out of trouble? This is a great lesson about why we have to follow safety rules and why we should tell the truth when we don't. The pictures were really cute and I was giggling.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

This was such a spunky little story of a sharpie/bull dog named bullwrinkle who gets himself into a pickle even after his parents warned him yet despite his first instinct to lie and exaggerate the truth he told his parents the truth which in tune only got him a brisk scolding because he owned up to his mistake / and knew better but sometimes accidents just happen especially with wee little ones like bull wrinkle. This was a phenomenal story about coming clean and following the rules as closely as possible.

Recently read this story about Bullwrinkle and his rendezvous with the mud monster and we loved it! My 5 year old loved the book! Great illustrations too 😀

This was so cute and wholesome! Thank you NetGalley and the authors for making it possible for me to read this. I read this to myself and absolutely loved it. The cover is what truly grabbed my attention. This book was short and sweet, perfect before bedtime for the kids. If you're trying to teach your kids lessons, start with this book because it was fun and left me thinking. I loved the illustrations and the question at the end that can be answered in so many ways and is completely left to the audience to decide. Will definitely be recommending.

The Mud Monster by Jay Allen and Bill Taylor is part of the Bullwrinkle & Friends series. Bullwrinkle is a sharpei. He went to the park with his friends to play ball. His friend threw the ball so hard it landed in the woods and his friends left to go home. Bullwrinkle wasn’t supposed to go into the woods alone, but he decided to do it anyway to find his ball. Did he meet a mud monster while he was in there? This book was written to teach that following the rules is important to keep children safe. The story is relatable and the illustrations are pleasant. The message might have been expressed better if there had been more of a consequence as a result of breaking the rule, but otherwise it is a story that children would enjoy. The book is a good place to begin a discussion about why there are rules and what rules are meant to keep children safe. I would have read this book to my children. I am voluntarily writing this honest review after reading an advanced complementary copy of this book thanks to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial.

The Mud Monster is a cute and education story geared towards children ages 3 – 8. In it, your child will learn two “grown up” words such as imagination and stubborn. And what better way to instill learning new vocabulary than with adorable illustrations and a story that also teaches family values such as respect and honor.

The characters are fun and are portrayed by family friendly pets like a Newfoundland, Labrador Retriever, and of course the star — a Shar Pei named Bullwrinkle.

A wonderful, fun and entertaining read, The Mud Monster is sure to please any pre-schooler. Five adorable stars.

I received a DRC from BooksGoSocial through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

This was a fun book both for children to look at and for adults and children to read together. it will lead to many discussions on following rules, consequences, and more.

Cute, entertaining for the tots🐶

Young kids should love this story about Bullwrinkle, an impulsive young sharpei who finds trouble in the woods while retrieving a baseball. The illustrations are cute, the story is fun and all's well that ends well. However....

The book's author says the teaching message is about following family rules. Bullwrinkle does not and yet his kind mom lets it go. No discussion or punishment; she even treats him to a favorite pasttime! I don't think the purported lesson gets across.

Still, using the story as a start, parents reading with a child could use the story as a stepping off point to discuss what more serious consequences than getting muddy (like getting lost or injury, etc) might happen from not following family rules instituted to keep them safe.

Thanks to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the story; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

Oh how I love this book! The illustrations in it are amazingly adorable. The story is a quick, easy read but oh so cute! This is definitely a must read and see!

My daughter and I just adored Bullwrinkle! This book gave us a great opportunity to talk about impulsivity and making decisions before we’ve thought through the consequences.
This book is a great tool for teaching about honesty, imagination and impulse control,

Funny and cute. The illustrations were great as well. I think this would be good for the ages if 3-5. Great message.