The Messy Bath Monster by Tina Wilson, music by Matt Ottley

Title: The Messy Bath Monster

Author: Tina Wilson, music by Matt Ottley

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: One Tentacle Publishing

Published: 1^st October 2025

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 32

Price: $25.99

Synopsis: Monkey knows there’s a MONSTER hiding in the bathroom because it leaves a HUGE MESS behind. Will Monkey discover who the bath monster really is?

Monkey dives deep into a colourful underwater world in search of the messy bath monster, meeting many sea creatures along the way … but is it all just in his imagination?

Imaginative, nostalgic and quirky, the Monkey’s Great Adventures series, with bespoke hand-knitted toys, is beautifully photographed in locations around the world. Monkey, an endearing soft toy, finds himself in all sorts of scrapes where he learns about himself and the world

around him. The book includes original music composed by acclaimed

artist, Matt Ottley.

~*~

Monkey is back for a new adventure, and this time, he’s on the hunt for a bath monster. And not just any bath monster, a messy bath monster! Monkey is determined to find out who the messy bath monster is. But what will Monkey find beneath the water? Much like the first book, the new monkey book is a hardback picture book, where toys and knitted toys are the characters, and that has a QR code in the front. Why? Because it has a recording of Tina reading the book, which is accompanied by Matt Ottley’s music.

Like the first book, the combination of these formats make it fun and unique. It’s part of Matt Ottley’s Sound of the Picture Book series, and means that there are multiple ways to read this. You can read the story on its own, read it to someone, or listen to the recording, which makes it accessible to more readers.  

Monkey’s new adventure by Tina Wilson is about the role of imagination, as it was written during the COVID lockdowns, so monkey is stuck at home, unable to travel around the world. The second book celebrates the power of exploring our world, and using our imagination when we can’t go anywhere.

So, Monkey dives deep below the bath water and meets fish, whales and an octopus as he explores a new world of water, ships and swimming. It’s a world that monkey has never explored before, and he’s in awe of it. Tina has created this world so beautifully with the toys and her photographs and pictures to create the fun story. It’s gorgeously done, and brings the magic of imagination to life beautifully. Monkey’s new adventure also perfectly aligns with the 2026 CBCA Book Week theme, Symphony of Stories, as it shows how music can enhance a story and what sounds can bring to a story.

It was a joy and delight to go on another adventure with Monkey and his friends, because it can really bring imagination and fun to life for younger readers without a screen, and shows that books and craft are fun.

The joy in this book is in the different ways people can choose to experience it, and what this can bring to different reading experiences. Everyone reads differently, and everyone accesses their books in different ways. Whether it’s print, audio, ebooks, or Braille, or another format, books should be accessible for everyone.