Sydney and Taylor and the Great Friend Expedition
by Jacqueline Davies
Illustrated by Deborah Hocking

I received an e-arc of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book with my 5 and 8 year old children. This is an adorable early chapter book. It gave one the feel of the likes of Frog and Toad but with more colorful and more detailed illustrations. We loved the maps of the burrow.

This is a wonderful way to normalize the difficulty of making new friends and to get ideas about how to make friends without being too on the nose about it. With so many details in the pictures and laugh out loud moments in the story I imagine this heartwarming story is one kids will be drawn back to again and again. 5/5 would buy.

Sydney the skunk and Taylor the hedgehog are living in a burrow under Miss Nancy's potting shed, when Taylor gets another one of his Big Ideas--to make friends. Not easy when "you're prickly and I stink!" as Sydney says. But the two set out on a Friend Expedition, attempting to win friends by tried and true tactics like engaging in pleasant conversation and offering sincere compliments.

This is an engaging early chapter book with delightful illustrations. The characters are lovable and the story is uplifting, with themes of kindness and friendship. I especially enjoyed the author's use of interesting language--not altogether common in books for early readers.

Net Galley provided me with a free ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

This is such a cute early chapter book with beautiful illustrations of these sweet characters! Sydney the skunk and Taylor the hedgehog have been friends forever, but they want to make some new friends. Through following classic advice such as saying hello, offering sincere compliments, and gifting thoughtful presents, Sydney and Taylor set out to make some new friends. Just as they're starting to succeed, a flood threatens to destroy their home and they discover another important way to make a friend. A fun early chapter book with great lessons in how to make friends. Thank you to NetGalley and Clarion books for the digital ARC.

A charming young reader for those youngsters leaving the two-hundred-word-per-book level behind for the 200-per-chapter, this has two long-term buddies on a quest to find new friends. Sydney the skunk is a bit of a home comfort kind of guy, but Taylor the hedgehog has enough daringness (and naivety) to make the pair good company for some colourful, quickly-turned pages. But can they force the issue when they want other animals to become their new pals? I'd not seen the previous two books in this series, but it was certainly friendly regardless, and very easy on the eye, too. A strong four stars.

Sydney and Taylor decide to venture out in search of friends. Through many fun and funny adventures, they try several methods to make friends, with varying degrees of success. When a crisis hits, they get a good lesson in the value of friendships of all kinds.

This is would be an excellent first chapter book! The language is expressive but simple and the chapters are of a very manageable size for new independent readers. There is a generous amount of pictures to keep reader interest and help them connect with the story. This would make a fantastic addition to school and classroom libraries for early grades.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

As always just the cutest story and a perfect chapter book for any kid that loves animals and perfect for 1st grade and it has such cute illustrations. Taylor has another adventure planned, their biggest one yet which is making new friends. When all of Taylors attempts at making friends of the animals in their yard doesn’t really work, it takes a rainstorm to get all the animals they tried to get to know at their door and willing to be friends. Just a really fun read and as always while Sydney is reluctant at the beginning they always come through for Taylor and help with whatever adventure Taylor wants to do.

Thanks to Clarion Books and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book in e-book form. All opinions in this review are my own.

This is a delightful, engaging early chapter book, ideal for children who want something longer than Mercy Watson. Sydney and Taylor are best friends and housemates who live in a burrow under Miss Nancy's potting shed. Sydney, a skunk, is set in his ways and likes things as they are. Taylor, a hedgehog, often gets "big ideas" which involve change. Taylor's latest idea is making new friends so they can celebrate holidays and have parties. Although Sydney is not excited, the pair venture outside to make friends.

Their first forced tries are unsuccessful, However, the reader does learn some useful tips for making friends, such as sincere compliments, pleasant conversation, and meaningful gifts.. Defeated, the pair is about to give up when a terrible storm hits their area and three animals come looking for temporary shelter. Sydney and Taylor invite the three inside and share their food. Later, a crisis ensues when the heavy rains flood their home and all five creatures are caught in the flood water. An unseen friend reaches out to help, and the characters learn that friendship is a gift that cannot be forced. This title is part of a new series written by Jacqueline Davies, the popular author of The Lemonade War series. The plentiful illustrations are warm and engaging, although I did not view the final version (read a pre-publication edition on NetGalley). Highly recommended.

I really loved this book. I teach emotional Literacy and it will be a great addition to my library. It has gorgeous illustrations and a simple repetitive story which is easy for emergent readers to understand. There is a lot of room for discussion and conversation. I didn’t realise it was part of a series and it doesn’t need to be read as part of the series but I will go and look for the others. Beautiful

What a wonderful addition to the Sydney and Taylor books by Jacqueline Davies. It is funny, heartfelt and with great illustrations by Deborah Hocking. Who doesn't have trouble making friends and these animals are no exception. Children will enjoy finding out how these two friends find more.

I received a free digital ARC from Clarion Books via NetGalley. This 3rd book in the series was another fabulous addition for emerging chapter book readers. Sydney and Taylor are on an adventure to find new friends. Sydney doesn’t really want to make new friends, but because Taylor wants to he agrees to go out and make friends. There are ups and downs, teamwork, and references to the previous books. This book stresses what a “sincere compliment” is and it was a good discussion to have with my son. Recommended.

This is one of my new favorite series. The pictures are gorgeous, the story is engaging, and you can’t help but love the skunk and hedgehog. I hope they continue their adventures soon.

Cute little chapter book for littles. This is my first in the series but it’s easy to follow nonetheless. Very much earlier reader chapter book but a sure fire winner

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. I had to request it because it had a hedgehog as a character. Sydney and Taylor have a great friendship but would like a few more friends. This can be difficult when you're a skunk and a hedgehog. I didn't realize this was a series when I began reading and would recommend reading them in order to have a better understanding of the setting and other characters in the story. It was; however, a delightful tale, and I would recommend it to readers who like the Owl Diaries.

This is an early chapter book that will grab your students' interest from the very first page. If you're wondering what reading level this book is for, I would compare it to the Branches imprint publishing. (It may even be from Branches, but I did not find any confirming information.) Your fans of Unicorn Diaries, Owl Diaries, and Ella and Owen will enjoy new characters and the accessible text. The illustrations are colorful and detailed. There's a lot to get out of them, so I would recommend giving children a heads up to examine the illustrations too.

As far as the story itself goes, I love the storyline of two best friends going out to make more friends. It seems most children feel like they can only have one friend at a time and this story will help demonstrate that it is normal and healthy to have many friends! Kids may also glean some fun "making friends" tips throughout the story.

Even though this book is part of an early chapter book series, you can read it as a stand-alone and still enjoy it. Sydney, the skunk, and Taylor, the porcupine, are best friends. However, Taylor knows that to have a great party you need more friends. With the help of Sydney, Taylor sets out to make more friends. The story is nice, with easy-to-read text, which is perfect for newly independent readers. The illustrations are colorful and nice, and match the text. A really fun book which is part of a really fun series.

I can't wait to hand this story off to our beginning readers. Sydney and Taylor are so much fun! They've explored the world, taken a leap and now they embark on a great friend expedition unlike any other.

This book was received as an ARC from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group - HMH Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I am familiar with the Sydney and Taylor series and our young patrons love them and the adventures they get themselves into. There is no big adventure than making new friends. A friend can be anyone that can give you a compliment and share wonderful stories with but in order to make friends, you have to be a friend to them. The friends Sydney and Taylor make are the friends that would be unexpecting to humans such as a bat, rabbit and shrew and then when you meet one friend, they'll introduce you to another friend and then your friendship chain will grow and they will be there when you need them and of course, you will be there for them if they need you. Children will learn a lot from the brilliant theme Jacqueline Davies has created and of course Deborah Hocking's illustrations will definitely help bring the story to life.

We will consider adding this title to our JFiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Our two main characters are Sydney (the skunk) and Taylor (the hedgehog) and they are each other's best friends which I think is absolutely the cutest thing for as long as each other can remember and as the story progresses we discover how they became best friends. Sydney is content to keep it as it is but Taylor wants them to make other friends so that can celebrate holidays, share food, or even parties with them. 

Neither really know how to go about making friends and wonder if other animals will like them. Thankfully Sydney is there to offer support and agrees to them making more friends. So they head outside to see if they can see anyone who wants to be friends with them. They spot a bird, a rabbit, a bat, and a shrew. Not sure what to do or how to do it they decide to start with pleasant conversations only that doesn't go as planned. What else can Taylor do to get friends because he has tried everything?

Will Taylor and Sydney discover the trick to make friends? To find out the answer you definitely need to read this.

I was a liiiiittle disappointed in this one! I thought the threat of impending drowning was a little much for kids, even though it all ends up okay. The story is still precious, and I love Sydney and Taylor!

This was a cute book for early readers along the lines of Mercy Watson levels. I think the plot could have been slightly more fleshed out and still remained a kids book, but overall the illustrations were adorable and it was a good book.