Such a cute book! Poor Sidney the cloud isn't feeling welcome. Everyone hopes the cloud would just go away. Sidney feels sad and travels across the ocean growing bigger. The cloud eventually brings shade and rain to people and animals who need it and they appreciate and smile at the cloud, making Sidney feel happy. A very sweet little story about appreciation and perspective for little ones. Beautiful illustrations as well!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

Sidney is very sad cloud. All he wants to do is make people happy, but instead of making people smile, all he does is make everyone upset. People want him to go away. Hearing people say they want him gone hurts his feelings. He only wants to find a friend. So he goes off searching for someone who will embrace him and love him and want him around. He ends up traveling to a desert. The people who live in the hot, dry land are more than happy to see Sidney and Sidney can share his special gifts, offering shade from the flaming sun.

This powerful story of embracing who we are, and welcoming others, reaffirms the belief that everyone has special gifts and talents to offer the world. Everyone is unique and we all have a place in the world, even if sometimes we don't feel that way.

Charming illustrations with a hand painted, watercolor feel, were vivid and will keep children engaged, but also were simple enough not to overpower the message or be overstimulating.

This story was both entertaining and educational, which can be a tricky balance to maintain in a children’s book, and I will be suggesting it to teachers whenever possible. Incorporating social-emotional skills and topics such as this into children's picture books is a tried and true way to teach an important life skill in a way that is fun. This would be an amazing addition for classroom libraries, counselling offices and more.