How fun! A good lesson that you shouldn't judge people based on what you hear about them, but based on what they show you. This would be a fun addition to any classroom libraries!

Readers will be delighted with every turn of the page as they join Eric the Duck on his brave journey beyond the safety of his neighborhood pond to explore the wonders of the big lake.

I love finding books that I can read aloud to my students. This is a perfect one, especially for teaching predicting and getting to just have fun while reading aloud! I can’t wait to buy this for my elementary school librarian!

Eric is scared to go in the lake because he heard there’s monsters. His friends dismiss his concerns and they all go swimming until Eric sees the monsters!

Really cute book, my toddler loved it especially the different colors and all the hats and bows on the monster. Amazing illustrations and simple text for younger kids.

Eric, the duck, is worried about going into the lake with his friends, because he has heard stories of a monster. His friends tell him it is just a story, and to come swim with them.

But, when Eric goes in, he sees the monster, who turns out to be friendly. And silly. And once he figures that out, he tells his friends that yes, you were right, there was no monster, as the monster raises his head out of the water to wave good-bye for now.

Kids will love the cute, quirky monster, as well as the fact that the other ducks totally missed him, even though he was right there.

Illustrations are bright and colorful, and the picture book is short on dialogue, so that any beginning reader can read it for themselves.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is coming out the 9th of September 2025.

Great illustrations! My toddler loved this book and it's quickly become a favorite! I can't wait to check out other books by this author - I'm sure they'll be well recieved by my little guy!

I love Leo Timmers, and was excited to read another book like his previous title, Where is the Dragon? I loved the illustrations, and thought the concept was funny and cute. Unfortunately I felt like it was missing some of the story or there could have been more action developed. I think this will be a fun and colorful book to check out in the picture book section, but it is not on the level of "Where is the Dragon?"

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book! The Monster in the Lake was a cute book to read to one of my kids I work with! My kid was immediately drawn to this book due to it having a duck on the front cover. The illustrations were cute and done well. I think kids will enjoy reading this book! Will be one I add to my future collection when it is published!

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book. The story and illustrations are absolutely wonderful. My little ones loved following along with Eric and his duck friends as they swam across the lake. But, what's hiding the in the water below?! You'll have to read this one to find out! It was a short, but sweet and enjoyable story.

If THE QUACKEN and I WANT MY HAT BACK had a baby, this would be it! Who knew duck horror was the picture book micro-genre I didn't know I needed??

This is a great pick for your readers of not-quite-scary books. Strengths include the dialogue-only text (formatted without dialogue tags, similar to Jon Klassen's work) and the playful visual inferencing.

Highly recommend for elementary school libraries.

Very very cute! Beautiful illustrations and short, simple text would make this a great read-aloud title. It's also a humorous tale of a duck with the gift of the gab.

The Monster in the Lake had me smiling while mallard duck went MIA. Kiddos will love reading about the monsters in this lake. Classroom teachers will have fun recreating their own fishy monsters or learning about the habitat and animals in lakes. While the words are simple, the illustrations tell the story of the lake monsters (or... is it just a story!!!).

Before I was halfway finished, I knew it was a book I need to buy for my own collection. I seek out quirky children's books and this one fit the bill with its animals with distinctly human names and lively monster illustrations. I can just imagine doing voices for the various ducks when I read it out-loud to my class! Excited to purchase once it's published.

What a delightful, delightful, story! Children will love this: I sure do! The illustrations are not overdone, are just enough to clue in readers, and the sparse text works perfectly with these illustrations. Protagonist Eric the Duck is quite a character, and what a character arc he undergoes, with a positive ending. This story is lots of fun!