Comparison

Teach Your Monster to Read vs Phonics Reading Program

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Teach Your Monster to Read

This app offers fun, phonics-based reading games for children aged 3-6. It helps build essential literacy skills through interactive play, allowing children to create their own monster and embark on a reading adventure. Designed by experts, it's a safe and trusted tool for home and school.

Highlights
  • Interactive reading games for ages 3-6
  • Improve letter sound recognition
  • Learn to read sentences
  • Track player progress
  • Phonics games designed by experts
  • Supports UK phonics programmes
Read full description

Welcome to Teach Your Monster to Read, the award-winning app that makes learning to read fun and engaging! Our educational phonics and reading games have helped millions of children build essential literacy skills. Create your own monster and embark on a magical journey through interactive games designed for home and school use. With a safe, trusted, and highly recommended approach, Teach Your Monster to Read offers phonics-based reading games for all levels. Teaching through play is what we do best—download today and start your child’s reading adventure! TEACH YOUR MONSTER TO READ FEATURES INTERACTIVE KIDS READING GAMES • Take your custom-designed monster through educational games that are suitable for ages 3-6. • Improve letter sound recognition with reading games • Explore a world of phonics and educational games that teach your child to read sentences • Easily track their player’s progress to identify areas where their reader may need extra support PHONICS & READING GAMES DESIGNED BY EXPERTS • Designed in collaboration with Roehampton University and leading game designers • Phonics tools and educational games that complement phases 2-5 of UK Government-approved Letters and Sounds and other major systematic synthetic phonics programmes • 3 reading games designed for those in preschool, primary school, kindergarten, and first grade EDUCATIONAL PLAY AT NO ADDITIONAL COST • Teach Your Monster to Read is available on iPad and iPhone • Explore phonics and educational games without in-app purchases, hidden costs, or in-game adverts • Teach Your Monster to Read supports your child through every step of their reading journey HEAR FROM TEACHERS AND PARENTS WHO USE OUR READING GAMES "This game is the absolute best quality phonics game I have come across for educational and fun value." Marie Lewis, Rochdale “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 is a fabulous game. I'm not kidding when I say that my daughter essentially learned all her letter sounds using First steps, with relatively minimal input from me! Great for parents to practise their letter sounds too." Eleanor Jones PART OF THE USBORNE FOUNDATION CHARITY Teach Your Monster to Read has been created by Teach Monster Games Ltd. which is a subsidiary of The Usborne Foundation. The Usborne Foundation is a charity founded by children’s publisher, Peter Usborne MBE. Harnessing research, design and technology, we create playful media addressing issues from literacy to health. Teach a monster today when you download our educational app! Teach Monster Games Ltd is a subsidiary of The Usborne Foundation, a registered charity in England and Wales, charity number 1121957.

About

Phonics Reading Program

A phonics-based reading program for children aged 4-7. It offers 31 cumulative lessons to teach reading and spelling skills through fun games, with progress tracking to identify areas needing support.

Highlights
  • Phonics-based learning
  • 31 cumulative lessons
  • Reading and spelling practice
  • In-game rewards (coins)
  • Progress tracking
  • Supports workbooks and electronic tools
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

This is a phonics-based reading program for children ages 4-7. There are 31 lessons that will help you teach your child the sounds and rules in a cumulative, repetitive manner. Your child will have fun practicing reading and spelling while earning coins that can be spent in the stores. As your child plays the games, progress will be saved, so you can see where your child needs help. For a more complete reading program, this app can be used with the workbooks, which contains the lessons and activity pages. This can also be used with our distance learning electronic tools. Part 1 (Book A) covers: the alphabet, consonants, vowels, consonant blends, FLOSS words, high frequency words, 'ch', 'sh', 'th', 'ck', 'ng', 'nk', VCV, 'oo', 'ou' and 'ow' as /ou/. Part 2 (Book B) covers: 'ow' as long 'o', 'ay', 'ar', 'er', 'ir', 'or', 'ur', 'oy', 'oi', long vowel teams, the letter 'y', words ending with 'ie', 'ew', long 'o' words, long'i' words, 'qu', 'au', 'aw', 'alk', 'ct', 'ea' as short 'e', protecting short vowels, and past tense words. No in-app purchases, no subscriptions. The price is for the entire app.

Screenshots

Teach Your Monster to Read4 screens
Phonics Reading Program4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Teach Your Monster to Read at free against Phonics Reading Program's paid. Teach Your Monster to Read also leads on ratings volume (28K vs 3) and chart position (#4 vs #180). Phonics Reading Program's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.5). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Teach Your Monster to Read costs $8.99 and Phonics Reading Program $8.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Phonics Reading Program holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Teach Your Monster to Read has 28K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Teach Your Monster to Read ships an update every 5 weeks, Phonics Reading Program every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Teach Your Monster to Read versus Phonics Reading Program: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTeach Your Monster to ReadPhonics Reading Program
Price$8.99$8.99
Rating4.5 (28K ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings28K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank#4 — better#180
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.012.0
Further details — not scored
Size96 MB67 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTeach Your MonsterBlast Off to Learning, LLC

Customer experience

Teach Your Monster to Read

All ratings27,742 ratings
Positive87.2%
Neutral6.2%
Negative6.6%
Written reviews448 reviews
Positive76.6%
Neutral5.8%
Negative17.6%

Phonics Reading Program

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Teach Your Monster to Read

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Loss of progress and collected items
  • Compatibility issues on certain devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add American English pronunciation option
  • Introduce more practice modes and customization options
  • Implement progress tracking and parental controls
  • Allow selective review of specific letter sounds/words

Phonics Reading Program

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Teach Your Monster to Read

No in-app purchases

None

Phonics Reading Program

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Teach Your Monster to Read free?
Teach Your Monster to Read costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Phonics Reading Program free?
Phonics Reading Program costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Teach Your Monster to Read or Phonics Reading Program?
Phonics Reading Program is rated higher. Teach Your Monster to Read averages 4.5 out of 5 from 28K ratings, while Phonics Reading Program averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Teach Your Monster to Read or Phonics Reading Program have ads?
Neither Teach Your Monster to Read nor Phonics Reading Program shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Teach Your Monster to Read or Phonics Reading Program?
Teach Your Monster to Read ships an update every 5 weeks, and Phonics Reading Program every 3 months. Most recently, Teach Your Monster to Read was updated on October 1, 2026 and Phonics Reading Program on September 21, 2026.
Which is more popular, Teach Your Monster to Read or Phonics Reading Program?
Teach Your Monster to Read currently peaks at #4 in the App Store charts, and Phonics Reading Program at #180. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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