This has beautiful pictures, and I am sure the information is great, but there are way to many words on a page here, and these are not stories, in the sense that they have a defined beginning, middle and end, and a character a child can relate to - they are more somewhat stylized natural history explanations.

I frankly don't know kid whose attention I could keep on one page for as long as it would take me to read the words on each page.

This could have been great if it either had a lot of information at the back, or if it wasn't a picture book.

While the overarching theme is happiness, the poems also touch on themes of friendship, The rhythmic cadence of the verses in whimsically designed fonts was my favourite part.

Happy Stories for Animal Lovers is a gem of a book that will appeal to readers of all ages!

These stories from around the world were just wholesome. I loved the concept of this book, mixing stories with facts about the environment and animals. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone, young or old, whether you like animals or not. There was just something about these stories that made me want to make a difference (or go to the zoo / aquarium).

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book.

Not what I was expecting, given the titles. The stories aren't really that happy, at least not in the way that kids can appreciate. Also, the text, especially its rhythm, suggests it's aiming to a young audience. However, the pages are densely packed with text, and though the illustrations are nice, a younger child may be bored.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This collection focuses on the importance of all that can be done for the environment. Rather than being doom scrollers, the writers of this book present a more hopeful outlook.

I love that the authors begin by noting that anytime is a good time for a story. What could be more true. Reading is the perfect anytime, low tech activity for an adult to share with a child.

Included in this beautifully illustrated collection are stories from around the world, beginning with Indonesia and ending with Canada. Birds, beasts, water creatures are all here.

This is a good book for a home or pre-school or early elementary school library.

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

Typically conservation stories are filled with grief and often leave the reader overwhelmed with sadness. This story is a refreshing story about conservation. Like the title, it showcases happy animal stories while also informing children about human interactions. Animal loving children will get additional enjoyment from the resources at the end of the book to bring the animals into the home. This book may not be ideal for storytimes but it would be a good bedtime story as it could also be broken down into short stories.

I find it a bit odd to call these happy stories since they are about animals on the verge on extinction or endangered by human behaviour to say the least. But the stories are centred around interesting facts and are told in an engaging way. The illustrations are pretty cool too.

A stellar book of animal conservation stories from across the world, with the most delightful illustrations. Eight different kinds of animals are featured with true tales about how humans are helping them survive and thrive. My fav: The uplifting story of Nordet, a spotted narwhal who finds home with a pod of beluga whales. Includes tips on how you can help to conserve animals. A wonder of a book for readers young and old!

Cute but informative read. I love the stories and that they are generally wide-reaching across countries and species. Great illustrations, and I love the use of text placement and alliterations to make the reading fun. I appreciate also that it is geared forwards more advanced young readers with a blurb for a parent to further give detail on each story. The call to action at the end is also a nice touch. My only critique is that the beluga/narwhal story introducing genders seemed odd. I guess the relevance is that they may mate? I liked the beaver, rhino, shark, and grizzly pages the lost.

Beautifully illustrated, quite interesting and knowledgeable. Kids will love the colorful pictures and educators will appreciate the attention to detail

This book is filled with cute stories of animals in the wild and how ordinary people helped them and learned about h them. I really like that there are suggestions on how anyone can make a difference. I think kids will like to see how they can make an impact.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read the ARC for this book. What an uplifting book for young people to learn about animals. The illustrations are beautiful and enrich the stories.

Happy Stories for Animal Lovers is a beautifully illustrated piece about a variety of animals all across the world. They all have one thing in common, their rarity and/or endangerment. Leisa Stewart-Sharpe does a great job of making the stories digestible for children, while providing lots of educational information. For this reason I believe this book is better suited for slightly older children, perhaps in the 5-8 age range.

If you have animal lovers in your home, then I definitely recommend adding this to their book collection. Even if they can’t read on their own yet, the artwork is truly beautiful to flip through. I liked that Leisa included lots of different action steps kids can take to make a difference. I also liked that through every endangerment story, there was a positive way that each animal was being helped.

I love this book! I work at the local zoo as a volunteer. Before I could become a volunteer l I had to study a lot about animals. It’s my task to inform and tell our visitors all kind of fun facts and more about our animals. Even though I know a lot about animals I still learned new things from this book.

What I loved most about this book are the facts at every end of the story. What has been done to help wildlife. Very inspiring! This is a book that everyone should read! It shows that we are capable to help nature and safe our precious animals. Read this!

I do think this book could be bigger. There more animals that could fit in this book.

I would defintly buy this book for my wildlife collection.

An educational, witty, and fun book. I’m a National Geographic enthusiast, so you bet your little toes that I loved this book! I enjoyed every page and wanted a lot more, it couldn’t get any better because it has it all- fun phrasing, rhyming, and realistic narration too! Kids will love this whether in a class or at home. A definite ten stars out of five stars!

Fun and educational

Pros:
- Beautiful and eye-catching illustrations
- Fun and educational details about each of the animals highlighted
- Great resources at the end for how to help animals on a small scale

Suggestions for improvement:
- By including two animals from the United States and one from Canada, there is a huge missed opportunity to include animals from South America, the Artic, Australia, etc.
- The complexity of the writing didn't seem to match the tone / intended audience of the book. The writing was a higher level than what is normally present for this audience.

Overall - fun and educational but could be improved with a couple of changes.

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for giving me an opportunity to read this book. Overall, I thought the illustrations were adorable. I was expecting a children’s story just based on the cover. However, I was pleasantly surprised with so many animal facts throughout the book. I can see myself gifting it to my nephews and nieces. Particularly loved the last part of the book that had some resources/activities that readers could look into.

This book has lovely illustrations, an important message, and great, practical suggestions about conservation for kids. At times, its variety in content and word choice made it seem unsure of its audience - younger children or older children - but perhaps that was intentional to appeal to a wider array of readers. I also found the title a bit misleading; in a book that mentions topics such as starvation and extinction, I would deem it "hopeful" at the end rather than purely "happy." Still an enjoyable, educational read.

I received a free eARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. I post this review with my honest opinions.

While the book contains a lot of text, the book was beautifully written. The author made careful word choices that were very impactful. Overall, the book was well written and I did really enjoy it.

An anthology of animal stories from around the world with a focus on conservation efforts on particular species at risk.

This book takes you to:

• Africa to follow the Wildebeest migration
• Indonesia to see the Javan Rhinoceros
• Europe to follow the Northern Bald Ibis migration
• USA to follow scientists tracking Great White Sharks
• Rocky mountains in America to follow a grizzly bear and her cubs
• United Kingdom to watch Beavers build their dam
• Canada to see Beluga and Narwhal
• China to see the Giant Panda munch on bamboo!

Written in storytelling and engaging prose with a play on structure for some words, this non-fiction book uses captivating ways to engage children so information is made easy and fun to understand!

The illustrations are beautifully crafted and there is a section at the back of the book that suggests easy ways to be protectors of nature without having to travel the globe!