Thank you so much to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for my copy of Meet the National Animals by Catherine Veitch in exchange for an honest review. It publishes November 1, 2022.
What a fun, educational, and neat book! This would be great for any teacher who is has a geography unit, or for a kid who is just overall curious about animals or travel. Beautifully illustrated, any kid will have fun learning while feasting their eyes on the illustrations. As an added bonus, parents and teachers reading this with their children will learn a thing or two, too!

Young children often enjoy learning about animals and this cheerily illustrated book allows them to do just that. The guide animal in these pages is a brown bear and readers are told that he represents Russia, a bit tricky for this moment but book buyers are free to make their own decisions about that.

Children will see animals from many countries and will learn fun facts about each one. Each entry has illustrations, a view of the flag for that animal’s country and more. At the bottom of each page are all of the animals that have been shown up to that point. These can be reviewed or maybe even memorized by some kids in a fun game. All in all, this is an enjoyable way to learn about animals and our world.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

I thought that this book was excellent

It was very easy to read and follow and there was plenty of facts and it was a fun way to learn

I read the book with my five-year-old daughter and she loved it

As a child I loved books like this and so glad that my daughter is enjoying them too

The illustrations were wonderful and really suited the book - all around perfect

It is 5 stars from me for this one, very highly recommended!

Thank you, Quarto Publishing Group - Francis Lincoln Children’s Books, for the advance reading copy.

The book is so much fun to read! It represents the national animals of most countries in a page that’s both easy to read and convenient to remember for the reading age group.

The information given for each animal is basic yet minimal. The illustrations are awesome.

Just add this beautiful book in your child’s collection.

Review to be posted on Goodreads/Blog on November 5th.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

I was scrolling through Netgalley and then boom I saw this adorable and fun looking book. Of course this girl cannot resist.

A bit unsure to follow a mascot of Russia (because NOPE), but hey, let's just not think about that and just see a cute bear trying to find friends. And see him travel the world! Yep. Just think of that. In this book our bear is determined to make some friends and see some of the world! And we follow him as he goes from his own country to Australia and New Zealand to Papua New Guinea to France and England. We really go around the world and discover all about the mascots of those countries. I learned a lot of new things in this book. Not much about the animals other than maybe a few little facts here and there, but I learned all about which country they are mascots from. Some countries were like, yes, that is indeed the perfect mascot. But there were a few that I hadn't expected, like the dolphin being the mascot of Greece!

I absolutely loved the bottom illustrations in which we see the bear meet with the two animals (which doesn't entirely work on an ereader as I see just one page) and then we see the animals join the party/parade of animals. And it isn't just a line, there is plenty to see. Because the animals don't just walk behind our bear/with our bear, but also do some fun moves or other things. I looked forward to each new page this way.

And the illustrations themselves were also terrifically done! So much fun! Very pretty~

I did think it was weird to add two fantasy creatures to the mix. On the one hand fun, but on the other hand? It just didn't feel like it fit. I would have rather seen some other animals, real ones.

But I just wasn't sure about the ending and how sob story it was. Maybe if we hadn't had two imaginary/fantasy beasts present I would have absolutely loved this. Now however? I was like, darling, if you can add non-existing animals you can revive a dead one. Done.

But all in all, this was a wonderful read with fun illustrations and I would recommend it!