I grew up on the DK Eyewitness series, so when I saw a mythical creature encyclopedia, I had to request an ARC. I’m so thrilled that I got it. This is an excellent primer for a kid. It features beautiful illustrations for every entry and covers creatures and beings from every corner of the world. Even with a more than passing interest in and knowledge of mythology and folklore, I still learned about new creatures reading this book, so it’s fun for the whole family. I would say however that the definition of creature seemed a bit loose, including humanoid beings and some deities rather than animals. The scope is also huge, and the creatures origins range from mythology, folklore, literature, and even includes some modern cryptids. The book also does not shy away from creatures that are not typically benevolent. Tricksters and dark magic users exist alongside folk heroes and lucky or helpful creatures. A great way to generate interest in the topic, and encourage kids to learn the stories of all of these creatures.

To say that I was excited about being approved for this book would be an understatement. My daughter and I love DK books, especially those featuring mythical creatures. I was able to share this with not only my 8 year old daughter but my 3 year old son as well. The stories are bite-sized and easy to read as bedtime tales. Some of the featured stories were familiar to us (like I said, we have a bunch of DK books about mythical creatures) and some were new. It was a joy to read this collection to my kiddos, and I would certainly recommend it to parents and educators of children ages 3-9. This book, and any subsequent installments of this series will definitely grace our bookshelves in print edition.

Thank you for the eARC, it was a delight!

We have had so much reading about different magical creatures over the last couple of nights! I want this cute book in physical to pick up with my little as he starts to understand mythology a bit more!

Kids with imagination will like looking at this title which can be read in order or enjoyed by looking at pages randomly. The illustrations are vibrant and engaging. The text is very readable.

Here are magical creatures from the land, water and air. There are many in these pages including a faun, a unicorn, a werewolf, Cyclops, troll, Jormungandr, selkie and the list goes on. I think that adults will be surprised by how much they may learn as well.

Many thanks to DK Children and NetGalley for this title. All opinions are my own

This is a great little book to introduce to children to the age of twelve. I suppose older students could use it and do more research on various mythological creatures. I liked the little snippets of information as it promoted a curiosity to learn more about the amazing creatures, many of which I had never heard about. I also liked where their origin was from. Gives opportunity to learn about the geographical locations.
As a person who loves mythology and loves to learn about creatures such as those from the show Grimm, Harry Potter and the movie Fantastic Beasts, I would embrace an opportunity to experience them in real life.
Questions? Was this book tailored for a younger crowd. Of course it was. Were the depictions more childlike? Yes and so perfect and colorful. Was information minimalistic? Yes, children cannot retain a large amount of information, so the small snippets was just enough. Additionally, it leads to further discussion and research.
Overall, this is a perfect book to introduce to kids who find the fantasy world intriguing and alluring to their creative minds.

This is a really cute book for kids to learn more about mythology, cultures, and some pretty cool monsters! I really like that the book is sectioned into 3, Land, Water, and Air creatures. I can't figure out how the creatures in these sections are organized. It isn't by geography, physiology, or alphabetically. That might be the only change I would make to allow the books to flow a little better. I will definitely be asking my cataloguer to purchase this, and will be recommending it to many of our patrons!

I am giving this 4 stars because I am not the intended audience.

I think I might have too high of a standard for childrens books, but in my opinion books for children do not need to sound like they were written by children.
I was excited by the idea of this book, but the execution was a bit haphazard. It read a bit like a 2nd grade book report. There wasn't much organization or structure, and the tone was immature. (I know it's for little kids, but see my point above.)

Also, the mythological research was a bit lacking as there were some glaring errors. (The unicorn, for example)

I always enjoy finding fun new ways to expose my son the the magical worlds I lived as a kid. And this is so amazing!!!!

Pjs, cuddling, and story-time before bed is a favorite at our house! The last couple weeks the kids had so much fun reading some new material I was given advanced copies of. It’s cute how now they ask what new books I have to read. As soon as I’m finished they will tell me what they loved about the book. My great little reviewers! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📚📖 @netgalley #netgalley

Mandela Cloudy Days by Kuljinder Kaur Brar ( comes out Oct 21)
Her dad is a truck driver and she has to learn how handle her “stormy cloud emotion” days. A great book about emotions.

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The Bedtime Book of Magical Creatures includes stunning illustrations and descriptions of over 100 magical creatures. As an avid fantasy reader, I loved seeing depictions of magical creatures that I've encountered in stories and learned about many I had never heard of. I love that creatures from cultures across the world are included, and that the index at the end included each creature's origin.

Highly recommend for fantasy readers of all ages!

I received an ARC from DK | DK Children via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.