The Sydney and Taylor series is such a hit with kids! Animals, friendship, and adventure?! What more could we want?! The illustrations are stunning. All around, Sydney and Taylor and the Great Friend Expedition is a sure-fire way to get and keep kids reading.

Sydney and Taylor depart their cozy burrow on a journey to make more friends in this beautiful edition to the book series. This story about the importance of friendship and the trials that come with making new friends is heartwarming. It includes gorgeous illustrations that keep kids engaged to pull you right into the story. It’s a perfect series for early readers just starting out with chapter books. We loved everything about it! My youngest has enjoyed them all.

5-stars

This is an adorable book that I read with my daughter at night. We both loved the characters and the message it portrayed.

Sydney and Taylor and the Great Friend Expedition by Jacqueline Davies is a perfect beginning chapter book what would fit as a classroom read aloud or for an early independent reader. The characters are sweet and the story has some adventure to keep the reader engaged.

This beginning chapter book is perfect as a read aloud, independent reader, or instructional reader. The characters and plot are engaging and relatable.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Four stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Taylor wants to make new friends but doesn't know-how. Sydney is happy having Taylor as his only friend. So what happens? Sydney helps Taylor try to make friends as much as possible. Both characters are charming and complement each other allowing for each character to learn lessons. Their failed attempts to make friends will bring laughter to the readers as well as understanding to their own failed attempts at friendship.

This is such a sweet early chapter book series and I have loved every title including this one. Great story with some adventure and a great friendship.

I loved this sweet story about friendship amidst the ups and downs of life. The pictures are adorable and really bring the story to life.

As an early elementary teacher, I am always on the lookout for simple, engaging stories for my students to read, and I think this book definitely meets those needs. However, some of the events in the book seemed out of place or disjointed from the overall flow and plot of the story. I don't think this would be too bothersome or distracting to young readers, but it did make the story a little difficult for me to follow at times.

Overall, I think this would be a great story for young readers who are navigating the early years of school and making new friendships!

This is such a cute installment in the Sydney and Taylor series. In this book they learn the true meaning of friendship.

What a sweet story! Sydney and Taylor are on a mission to make some new friends. Things don’t always go as planned, and it’s interesting to see how the events resolve. The lessons Sydney and Taylor teach each other are perfect for younger readers, particularly those who may be starting at a new school or having difficulty making new friends. Sydney the skunk is one of the more relatable characters I’ve read - content to stay home, not make new friends, and generally keep things as they are. I felt that deeply. Pick this one up for the youngsters in your life!

This is such a fun read. This early chapter book is perfect for readers looking for a good story about friendship.

Thank you Netgalley and Clarion books for access to this arc.

Taylor the adorable hedgehog has another Big Idea. This time he wants he and Sydney the skunk to go make more friends. Sydney is quite fine staying in their cozy burrow, drinking tea and doing crossword puzzles but if his friend wants to expand their friend list, then that is what they will do. But how?

Sydney and Taylor go out and work hard at finding new friends using pleasant conversation and sincere complements but making friends isn’t as easy as it might sound. You’ve got to keep at it and be there for a friend when they need help as well as when things are smooth sailing. I was a bit disappointed to see that some of the animals Taylor and Sydney tried to become friends with only seemed to really want to be with the duo when times were hard. There is one person who helps them out with no thought of gain and it’s a good lesson for children to reach out even if there’s no guarantee of a reward. I liked the illustrations and seeing Taylor and Sydney be there for each other but this will not be my favorite book in this series. C+

Sydney and Taylor is a super cute early reader series about a friendship between a hedgehog and skunk. In the Great Friend Expedition, Sydney and Taylor set out to make some new friends, but aren’t sure how. They try pleasant conversation, sincere compliments, and gifts of friendship. At first, they don’t think their methods are working, but they find out friends sometimes show up when you least expect it. The drawings are beautiful, and the characters fun! Great for kids who are beginning to read chapter books.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Love Sydney and Taylor! Another great one by Davies. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Sydney and Taylor are back in The Great Friend Expedition! I can’t wait to share this one with my students. They will love watching Sydney and Taylor navigate making new friends, with all the ups and downs that happen, kind of like in their own lives. Fans of Mercy Watson and Biscuit will love this series! Thank you to Netgalley and Clarion Books for the eARC.

Taylor decides to make a new friend. Sydney just wants to stay home in their burrow. Taylor drags Sydney alone to find some friends.

Nothing seems to go right and no one seems to want to make friends so they go home. As they are hanging out a storm begins and they end up with those they came across throughout their day. They are looking for a safe place to get out of the storm and Taylor and Sydney let them hang out with them.

Then the water starts to leak into their burrow and when they think they are done for there is a hose that is dropped in from Miss Nancy to save the day.

So, will Taylor and Sydney get the friends they want after all?

This is a simple story of friendship and how sometimes you can try so hard to make friends but they will come in their own time.

As a beginner chapter book this would be perfect for a elementary school or teacher’s library. This is worth picking up for a young child.

Book: Sydney and Taylor and the Great Friend Expedition

Author: Jacqueline Davies

Publication Info: 22 Feb 2022 Clarion Books (formerly HMH Children's Books), Clarion Books
Genres: Children’s Fiction, Young Readers

I received an e-book copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for honest feedback. Thank you to the author, illustration, NetGalley, and the publisher.

This book is about a hedgehog (Taylor) and skunk (Sydney) and their adventures to make new friends. They have been friends for ages, but they’d like to add new friends to their lives so they can have different types of fun like parties and dances. They worry about if other animals will like them and how to go about making new connections. They go out and look for new friendships and are met with some obstacles.

I absolutely think this book is so cute! I love the illustrations. I am a sucker for animal characters anyway, but I liked the drawings very much. My favorite was on page 67, I thought it was very adorable (the friends asleep in front of the fire). I also loved the end pages (a gathering of friends).

All in all, I think that this is a cute book and it’s a bit longer than just a regular picture book (I think? Seems so based on this ebook copy). Would be very cute addition to a classroom or library.

Oh my goodness these characters are adorable and when I got done reading it I had to check to see if there were more. What a great series to find and kids will want to read all the adventures these guys have.
just reviewed Sydney and Taylor and the Great Friend Expedition by Jacqueline Davies. #SydneyandTaylorandtheGreatFriendExpedition #NetGalley

I loved this book a early reader story about two animal friends and their quest to head out and make more. The illustrations are absolutely darling and I think this series is prefect for early readers. I will definitely be adding this series to the library;.

I always enjoy reading books for children, from picture books to Middle Grade and on up to YA. This early chapter book has delightful illustrations of talking animals that children are sure to love. The story line offers adults the opportunity to talk about a valuable part of life: making and keeping friends. Sydney the skunk is happy with one good buddy, Taylor the adorable hedgehog has a fun being the roommate with Sydney in their burrow but wants more friends. The animals talk about ways to be a good friend, such as making polite conversation with sincere compliments. There also is a scary crisis when the burrow floods during a heavy rain, and a human friend saves the multiple animals' lives by providing a tube to suction out the water. When thinking about reading this book to children, I felt there might be a couple of questions or moments of confusion. The transition from chapter 1 which was a discussion about making friends leads into chapter 2 which has overdone bread burning in Sydney and Taylor's toaster. I thought a smoother transition would involve the toast possibly burning because Taylor started crying from loneliness and didn't pay attention - or just something to connect the incident with the friend topic. Later, when the human friend sticks a tube into the burrow to suction out the water, I was surprised that the woman was out during a rainstorm and that she knew and cared about Sydney and Taylor's burrow. There did not seem to be a clear introduction of this woman as their friend.