We only discovered the Teach Your Monster to Read website recently, but it’s one of the best attempts we’ve seen to help children’s early reading skills through gameplay.

Now there’s an iPad app for that. Teach Your Monster to Read: First Steps was released for Apple’s tablet today, and will hopefully bring it to wide attention beyond the 75,000 parents and teachers who’ve already used the website.

What is it? A “phonics-based reading game” aimed at 3-6 year-olds, designed to complement the skills they’re learning at school.

“Create your own monster and take it on an adventure through a magical world. Travel to colourful places, meet the mysterious Island Kings and collect rewards as your monster learns the first steps of reading,” explains its App Store listing.

The game sees kids practising 31 letter sounds through fun mini-games, all geared towards helping them remember what they’ve learned.

Plus – and this is a big plus based on my five year-old’s experience with the app so far – they get to create their own monster to represent them in the app, then unlock rewards for them (virtual hats, for example).

Oh, and you might recognise the voice narration: it comes from Simon Farnaby, of Horrible Histories fame.

Educational games are a hard thing to get right: too dry will have kids scrambling for the Home button on their iPads to play something more fun, but go too far the other way, and the learning element can suffer too.

As far as we can make out, Teach Your Monster to Read has got it just right. And the “First Steps” in the title of this app gives us high hopes that there’ll be more coming in the future.

Teach Your Monster to Read: First Steps costs £2.99 for iPad from Apple’s App Store.

Read about more phonics apps for kids on Apps Playground, and check out our 100 Best iPad Apps of 2013 e-book – £1.99 from Apple’s iBooks Store