I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Cute illustrations in this one. The story is middle of the road for m e. It's a neat concept.

Many a picture book has been written about a character longing for more excitement in their life. They seek out wildness and freedom only to find i puts them in a dangerous place. The difference here is that Lana doesn't find herself saved by the boring routine but rather missing it. She makes her escape by her own wits. She indulges in occasional wildness. It's a subtler, more sophisticated message than we typically get a a picture book.

Lana Lynn is a sheep who doesn’t fully enjoy doing sheep things, which confuses the others. After all, why wouldn’t a sheep want to act like a sheep? Why would she want to run through the wild woods, stay up late, and howl at the moon?

But Lana does, so one evening the adventurous sheep disguises herself and heads out to enjoy the wild woods by herself. While wearing her disguise a pack of wolves mistake her for one of their own and she begins to run and play with them.

However, dinner with the wolves proves to be a little too much for Lana Lynn. The meal consists of squirrel, rabbit, and sheep. Oh, oh. For some reason that doesn’t appeal to Lana’s taste buds. In fact, it brings her back to reality in a split second. She is not a wolf. She is a sheep!

But what will she do?

What Concerned Me:
These are small concerns, but things I noted and thought were worth mentioning.

1. While I am all for adding new vocabulary words to picture books, I was surprised to see the word intrepid in the first sentence.
2. When Lana Lynn went home to eat with the wolves I wondered how tender-hearted children would react to seeing illustrations showing a large-eyed squirrel and rabbit sitting under lid covers.
3. The story felt somewhat unfinished and even unclear. For me, it didn’t have a uniqueness to cause it to stand out from similar books.

What I Liked Most:
Well, like the word intrepid, which caught my attention quickly, this too caught my attention. Lana Lynn likes to stay up late. But what is she doing? Reading! How can you not like that?

I also like that there is a phrase repeated several times throughout the story that children are sure to enjoy.

Thank you #netgalley for giving me a copy of #LanaLynnHowlsAtTheMoon to review. This is an adorable story about a sheep that is bored with sheep life. She wants adventure. This book had me laughing and excited to share with my kids (ages 5 and 6). I enjoyed the repetition in the book, like her little catch phrase, and kids will too. I liked that it was part trickster tale. Definitely a must buy book.

This book is actually far more amusing and entertaining than I thought it would be. From the first line (where Lana Lynn is described as "intrepid"), it's clear that this isn't your standard picture-book sheep.

Lana Lynn is a sheep who doesn't always want to do sheepish things. When the others want her to eat grass, sip water, or take a nap, she thinks those things are boring and responds with, "Fiddle-dee-dee! Not for me." No, what Lana Lynn wants to do is run wild, stay up late, and howl at the moon. Kind of like... a wolf. One night, she gets her chance when she finds a wolf costume conveniently tacked to the wall of the shepherd's hut. And Lana Lynn sets off on an adventure to run with a pack of wolves.

The whole idea of a sheep in disguise running with the wolves is deliciously dangerous. There is peril, but everything turns out okay for everyone involved. Lana Lynn's differences are actually her strengths, and the little black sheep (figuratively speaking, of course; she's actually white) ends up saving the day because she's different.

The illustrations are simple but effective. Some of the facial expressions on the wolves are pretty funny, too. They seem to know there's something "off" with the new member of their pack, but they can't quite figure out what that might be.

Overall, this is an amusing and heartwarming story about differences as strengths featuring some cute little sheep and some clueless wolves. I would definitely recommend it!

Lana Lynn is a sheep who doesn’t want to do the things her flock mates do. They call her odd and that night under the full moon, she disguised herself and ran around the woods by herself. A pack of wolves spots her, mistakes her for one of their own, and invites her to run with them.

Lana Lynn happily frolics through the woods with the wolves, but when they invite her to dinner, she tells them she’s too exhausted. For some reason, she goes with the wolves anyway and finds herself in their den for a meal. She doesn’t want to share their meal of small critters, so they present a sheep instead. She recognizes him as one of her friends from the flock. Lana Lynn agrees to accept the meal, but dashes off with him instead.

After being rescued, her sheep pal tells her how happy he is that she was not acting like a sheep that night. Because she wanted some adventure, she left the pasture that night and was able to save him. Lana doesn’t respond and falls asleep in the meadow after having a meal of grass and water.

But that’s not the end of the story. It could have been, and I’d have liked it better without the last page. Many a sheep would be delighted to return safely to pasture with a nice meal, some fresh water, and a good night’s sleep; saving a flock mate from imminent demise at the paws (and teeth) of wolves might have caused most sheep to reevaluate return trips to the woods at night. Not the intrepid Lana Lynn. Lana Lynn stays up late each time the moon is full to run through woods on another adventure.

The children’s books of my own youth (those I recall well anyway) were nicely buttoned up at the end with a lesson of some sort. Without some moment of enlightenment, a story feels to me like it’s been cut short. It doesn’t need to be a big philosophical revelation or a bold moral moment, just something that makes it all click. Maybe it’s a flaw I need to overcome to gain better objectivity.

I do think this book’s storyline had promise, but didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The illustrations are simple and well done. On one page, the glowing eyes and gleaming sharp teeth of the wolves in the woods capture the danger posed to a lone sheep looking for adventure.

While it doesn’t exactly fit my needs as part of a lesson plan, it would be a welcome addition to my bookshelves. It’s not poorly written and it was a fun read, sprinkled with rhyme and a dash of repetition.

Thanks to Peachtree Publishing Company and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.