The Lonely Little Monkey is a vibrant story that addresses the universal feeling of loneliness with gentle humor and stunning visuals. The artwork is definitely the star of this show. The character design is charming; the monkey, with his expressive eyes and fluffy blue coat, wears his emotions openly, making him an immediately sympathetic protagonist for children.

This is a story about the self-imposed limits of what we think friendship "should" look like. The monkey sets out to find a friend "just like him," and in doing so, nearly misses the beauty of the diverse world around him. The story gently guides children toward the realization that connection doesn't require sameness, which is a powerful lesson in inclusivity and open-mindedness.

For parents, this is a perfect bedtime read that opens a door to discussing feelings of isolation or anxiety about making new friends. Schools and libraries will find it a valuable resource for social-emotional learning curricula, particularly for discussions about diversity and community. Highly recommended.

Thank you Netgally
Beautiful story of found family. Seeing the lonely monkey realize he wasn’t alone and could find friends of all sizes right where he was. A book that will be loved by all.

This was our naptime story and both my kids really loved it! They struggle with finding friends and this book was a lovely reminder that anyone can be a friend to them. As a parent, I loved the message and journey (both externally and internally)toward friendship. The bright character illustrations on the darker background was really eye-catching. There were so many intricate details in the drawings and you could find something new to appreciate each time you look closer.

Children's books can be so inspirational. The lovely illustrations and heartfelt tale tell of a monkey who lives all alone, not realizing he has no friends, and eventually sets out on a quest to find a monkey friend, with surprising but very gratifying results.
Highly recommended

I love the message about diversity in this book. The monkey sets out to find a monkey friend just like him but ends up realizing that his friends don't have to be just like him. It's a great message to be friends with everyone. The illustrations are very cute. Thank you to Histria Books | Histria Kids and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

What an adorable little book about this adorable monkey finding his found family! The illustrations in this novel were so colorful and beautiful. I definitely would read this to my littles.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read it!

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher in return for my honest opinion and review of this book.

This book was so cute. I loved the rhyming throughout. It teaches that you can be friends with anyone if you give them a try. The don't have to be just like you.

Beautifully illustrated story about a monkey who is looking for monkey friends and how in the end he found friends along his way through the rainforest.

Beautiful illustrations and such a sweet message! Loved it, and perfect for any kid who might feel like an outsider.

I read this book with my preschool daughter and she loved it! The colors were so vibrant and she enjoyed the different animals. She was very invested in the story and I noticed she loved to relate to the emotions the monkey was portraying.
The vocabulary was as probably a little too advanced considering the audience that would most likely read this story. However, I felt like the context surrounding each advanced word did a good job of alluding to what each word meant and personally I like the introduction of big words to my younger children.

My one gripe is that there were a few sentences I could not read because the color of the words blended into the background. I hope this is fixed in the final version.


Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ebook. All thoughts and comments are my own.

What a sweet, unexpected journey. The Lonely Little Monkey takes you on a journey with a young monkey looking to find others like him after realizing he's the only one of his kind he knows. I loved the message of this book and I especially loved the way the author wove in some more challenging words that allow for littles and their bigs to explore together.

The sweetest short story about being happily friends with other who may not be like you. I loved the inclusiveness, I hope every child is exposed to books just like this!

The cover, illustrations, and story were absolutely adorable. I loved the used of alliteration throughout without being excessive. I found an almost Dr. Seuss inspired writing style while being modern and attention keeping. Wasn’t expecting a plot twist in a children’s book. Typically you know exactly where the story is going, but it was nice to see a different ending. It just so happens my son (2) is in a monkey phase so he loved this book a little extra. A great quick read without being too short to wind down some rambunctious kiddos.

I enjoyed the illustrations for this book as well as the meaning of the story. I work with students and this book is a good message for them. I love how the monkey had his goal in mind, but at the end he realized he could change that goal and it was okay. It was okay for him to be sad that he couldn’t find any monkey friends, but then he realized he could be friends with anyone. This book will be great for a lesson in my classroom about friendship and self-esteem. I really enjoyed this story and cannot wait to share it with my students!

What a sweet book! I really feel for this little monkey, looking for someone to share life with. Though Children's books should have a "lesson" or a teaching moment, it also should be enjoyable to both child and parent. As I read it, I narrated it out loud to my four year old who is obsessed with jungle animals, and we both enjoyed the rhimes, the bright colors and the happy ending!
One small detail I didn't like is the actual face of the monkey. The illustration of the book over all is great, bright and inviting. But his facial expressions are a little too human, making him a bit creepy in my opinion.

First of all, this cover and all the art in it is stunning. I love it!

I enjoyed reading this book, it is a great bedtime story of wanting and finding what we want but we don't always get that exact thing we are looking for. But there are others that can still meet the qualifications of what you are looking for. Not everything is black and white.

Especially for toddlers where they can be so distraught and upset over wanting something in particular but they can still get the same outcome with something different.

PUBLISH DATE: July 28, 2026

Cute brightly illustrated children's book that is sure to catch their attention. This little monkey wants to make new friends and this book is the journey showing how friends can be found when you least expect it. Super cute and the writing flows well if you read it out loud to kids. Recommended.

BOOK TITLE: The Lonely Little Monkey
AUTHOR: Danica Desoky
ILLUSTRATOR:
PUBLISHER: Histria Books | Histria Kids
FORMAT: ebook
PAGES: 36
I received a complimentary digital ARC [Advanced Readers Copy] of this book via NetGalley. Thank you to the Publisher and the Author for the opportunity to read and review this title prior to publication. As always, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I always like to talk about my son who is autistic and mentally four - we read books that are level 2 type because anything with more text is to hard for him to understand (he doesn't read I read them to him and I don't want to be like the teacher in Charlie Brown blahblahblahblah.

This book was so good - the illustrations were wonderful and so is the story. The little monkey, is all alone in the jungle and the ant tells him there are more monkeys - go look for them. In the process he finds an eater, a sloth, a toucan, and a tree frog - they all tell him that they never saw another monkey but the toucan says maybe you should change what you are looking for -and he makes a little family with all of the creatures :)

We totally loved this book and thank you Netgalley!

This is a sweet story about a lonely little monkey who really needs a friend. We follow him as he swings through the forest, meeting many different friendly animals but not a single monkey like him. Whatever shall he do? Little Monkey learns a valuable lesson in the end - everyone can be a friend!!
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read the free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This delightful book is full of heart, offering a gentle yet powerful message that will resonate with young readers.
The illustrations are vibrant, expressive, and full of personality. Each page feels alive, perfectly complementing the text and inviting children to linger over the details. I especially loved the high contrast between the print and the background, which makes the book accessible and easy to read aloud.
This book will be a fantastic addition to any primary classroom or home library!

Such a sweet, adorable book. I read it to my three kids and they all loved both the story and the illustrations. The biggest win? They asked to read it again immediately — which definitely tells me it was a hit in our house!

Thank you so much to Histria Kids and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

Blue Monkey is all alone and dreams of finding other monkey’s like him. He set off on an adventure around the jungle meeting many new animal creatures hoping one will turn out to be his monkey friend so he no longer has to be alone.

This is a very lovely rhyming story, a perfect read with young ones, it is such a relaxing and very beautiful story. I had the most amazing time reading this book meeting all the various animals and seeing where blue monkey went next.

Blue monkey was so sweet and so sad, I loved following him having hope with and for him that he was going to find his monkey family, but what we found instead was that he found so many new friends each one was all alone and probably felt the same as him.

The illustrations were really beautiful and seeing the background illustrations with all the flowers, smaller animals and nature all around were so beautiful to look at and really helped tell the story. I had a wonderful time looking at each part of the illustrations seeing blue monkey’s face each time he thought maybe he found his monkey family.

This is a perfect before bed story for your little ones, it’s all about friendship, it written so sweetly and with perfect rhyming story, it leaves perfect room for you to use different voices for each of the animals. It repeats itself so a child will be able to know the story pattern. It was an incredibly beautiful sweet story.