Troop Esme by Lourdes Heuer and Marissa Valdez is an illustrated chapter book for young children between the ages of three and eight. It opens with Wendall stopping by Esme's apartment to sell boxes of his Badger Troop Cookies to earn a badge. Esme thinks it would be a great idea to start her own troop called Troop Esme so she can help Wendall achieve his goal.

I'd like to thank NetGalley for providing me an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Troop Esme for free in exchange for my honest review. Although I'm not the target audience for this book, I knew I just had to read and review it because my cat that passed away was named Esme.

First and foremost, the pacing of the story was fantastic. It keeps the reader engaged and wanting more. Parents, teachers, siblings, etc. won't get bored reading the story for the umpteenth time. The style of writing reminds me of a book called Jellybeans for Breakfast that I read and loved as a child. Needless to say, I absolutely feel in love with Troop Esme. The illustrations are fantastic as well. It gives the reader a lot of different visualizations to complete the story.

Secondly, the story teaches children a lesson about helping others without it feeling like it's teaching a lesson. It gives adults the perfect opportunity to have a discussion afterwards and even put together a project of helping out someone, even if it's a simple as taking the mail up to an elderly person's front door.

This is definitely a book that I will recommend to teachers and friends with children between the ages of three and eight. Five out of five stars is what I give Troop Esme by Lourdes Heuer and Marissa Valdez.

This book is pure joy and the magic of being a curious child, ready to explore. Esme meets a new friend, Wendall, who is a Troop Badger attempting to earn his last badge selling cookies. Esme wants to get a badge too, so she creates her own troop! As she assists Wendall in finding a cookie customer, he helps pass on along all of the fun info he has learned in his troop, inspiring Esme to curate a unique and amazing troop of neighbors! This quick and easy chapter book is full of beautiful and vibrant illustrations that help immerse you in the delightful world of Troop Esme!

I read Troop Esme with my 7 and 9 year old daughters and they loved it. They thought it was funny and Like Esme and her friends. I liked the illustrations and thought it was a very cute and fun story. It was a quick read and my kids didn't want to put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC for review!

I am a second grade teacher, this book will be a perfect read aloud for a classroom. We have a character study unit and this book will easily allow students to identify character traits.

I love Esme! Esme's Birthday Conga Line is one of my favorite transitional chapter books and Troop Esme is a perfect follow up. The pacing is perfect with simple enough sentences, but plenty of personality from the ensemble of characters. This is a great read-aloud for pre-k students who have the stamina for a chapter book, and is also good for 1st-2nd graders who are reading independently.

I highly recommend Troop Esme for all schools and libraries.

Troop Esme is about a girl who wants to earn Badger badges, but she isn't in a troop. She decides to make her own and help a current Troop Badger sell all his cookies. The illustrations are very cute and the page count would be better for kids ready for beginning chapter books.

Thanks to Tundra Book Group and NetGalley for an eARC of this book for an honest review.