Book Review: The Monster of White Bear Lake

We didn’t manage to take the kids fishing this summer. But they haven’t given up hope on us, making sure to include “go fishing” on our fall fun list.

In the meantime, we’ve been living vicariously through the characters of Spinner and Bobber, two 10-year old boys spending the summer on a lake in Minnesota.

The Monster of White Bear Lake ($5.99) is the first in a series of chapter books written by fishing guide Mike Holliday. The books follow young friends Spinner and Bobber in their fishing adventures around the U.S.A. They are designed for children ages 5 to 10, with the goal of inspiring kids to get outside and enjoy outdoor adventures.

Lucky for us, you don’t have to know the first thing about fishing to enjoy the story.

Summary

The Big Explorer: A boy named Spinner and his friend Bobber wanted to catch the never-before-caught Muskie nicknamed “The Monster of White Bear Lake.” With the help of Spinner’s grandpa, Spinner does catch it. Then Spinner must decide if he wants to kill it or let it go. If he kills it, he’ll become famous. If he lets it go, the Monster of White Bear Lake will be a legend forever.

Mom: That pretty much covers it – without giving all the good stuff away, of course. In case you’re wondering, Spinner and Bobber are merely nicknames. (Well, I was wondering …)

Opinion

The Big Explorer: My favorite part is when Spinner catches the Muskie and is one of the first people ever to actually see it.

Mom: He’s underselling it here. I love the story for quite a few reasons:

• It’s filled with lots of funny interactions between Spinner and Bobber that feel very realistic.
• It comes complete with cool illustrations.
• There are lots of fun fish facts, which are sprinkled throughout the story as illustrations in Spinner’s fishing journal. 
• Life for Spinner and Bobber is pretty simple. They spend their days biking, swimming and fishing – you know, the things we all did when we were kids!

We thoroughly enjoyed reading The Monster of White Bear Lake together over a series of a few nights (though at one point the Big Explorer did skip ahead and finish the story on his own). We will most definitely be purchasing the remaining two titles in the series: The Mystery of Porpoise Point and The Pirate of Creole Bay.
 
If you’d like to get your own copy, now’s the time. The Monster of White Bear Lake is currently FREE with any other purchase from the FishingKids website. (There’s a lot of other fun fishing-themed information there worth checking out, too.)

Note: I received a free copy of The Monster of White Bear Lake in exchange for providing my honest review here. Read my full disclosure policy for more information.