A very earnest little adventure for little eco-warriors. The Woodland Explorers Club are six friends in the same primary school class, which handily seems to learn only about woodland and nature, and only outdoors at that. When Shyla gets gifted a special pair of her nan's binoculars, she is amazed to start seeing the fairies of the forest through them – but she's also quick to work out that things under the trees might not be ideal. The story is quite breathless in the way of having lashings-of-ginger-kids all enthuse about things, mixed really quite awkwardly with the fantasy of the fairies (mind you, the first book apparently introduced the Club to a royal oak tree that sings…). Also of importance are the true nature notes, ranging as they do from tadpole life to the titular woodwide web of mushroom and tree communication.

This wasn't too bad, but I felt it wouldn't work quite as well as intended. The children were quite cloying and saccharine, always saying the right thing and doing the right thing and going to research things in the library with over-enthusiastic manner. And the biology lesson mixed with the fantasy felt quite clumsy. Worst still was the way the geography of the place was portrayed – in the text it sounded like a particular something was hard to see from Shyla's home, but in the visuals it was right out the window, and the forest is both large and varied yet utterly accessible at all times. Still, with a heart such as this in only the right place, it's not too easy to dismiss – even if it was easily improved – so I can't really lambast anyone for giving this a try.

5☆ An Enchanting and Educational Read.

Shyla's Wood Wide Web is a Heart-warming and educational Story about nature, working together, being kind and learning about pollution and the effects it has on wildlife.

I loved the magical feel to this book, it was enchanting and special.
For me I have a soft spot for mushrooms, so seeing them feature in the book alongside fairies 🧚‍♂️ and how important they are was a joy to read about.

I think this book can easily be read as a standalone, as I hadn't read any other of the books.
The illustrations were beautiful.
I only wish they was in full colour so the reader can experience all the vibrant and beautiful colours explained in the book. That said they really do help bring the story to life.

What I really enjoyed was all the little added details explaining to the reader about important things, in a fun and easy to understand way. For example about certain types of mushrooms or about how tadpoles turn into frogs.
I also really liked the activity at the end, getting the readers involved in the story, by making your own fairy garden.

Overall this is a delightful story and I highly recommend it to readers aged 6+ who love nature and want to learn more about caring for the environment.