The gang is stoked when a new donut shop appears in town, but are quickly bummed when the owner decides to close down because she thinks a monster is eating her donuts each night. The gang offers to spend the night - despite Shaggy and Scooby's fears about the monster - to catch the culprit in the act.

This book reads very much like an episode of Scooby Doo, which is great if you like the show. The plot is in line with a typical episode (although shortened), you can basically hear the characters in the dialogue spoken here, and the illustrations match the original animation quite well.

The down side is that even while this is billed as an early reader, it might be a bit difficult for beginning readers to decipher some of Scooby's misspeak (e.g., "rummy" for "yummy") or the more unusual expressions that the gang are known for using, such as zoinks!" Also, if you read aloud, it can be tricky to try to replicate the right voices for these well-known characters.

That being said, the children I read this aloud to all enjoyed it. One toddler in particular kept asking to hear it multiple times. ( )

awesome ( )