Astrid and Apollo and the Puppy Surprise by V.T. Bidania is a story about Hmong American twins. It is their birthday and they are thinking of what gifts to give one another. Each year they try to surprise one another, and once again they succeed. Although they are twins, I love that she gave them each their own personalities and interests. The family relationships were also great with their parents helping them with their surprises. There is a bit of a mystery as they try to figure out what they will be getting. I love the multi-cultural aspect of this story, including the pronunciation guide at the end of the book and some of the cultural information shared. The illustrations are amazing and bring the story to life. I read this one to my granddaughter and she really enjoyed it, especially the gifts they gave one another. This is part of a series of 14 books, but can easily be read as a standalone story. I am going to find some of the others to read to her as well. I highly recommend this book to schools, teachers and public libraries. There are never enough books featuring children from different heritages and cultures.

A fun, engaging book where my children can see characters that look like them, living ordinary lives. It helps that my kids are twins too - they loved this book. Looking forward to more in the series.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Astrid and Apollo and the puppy surprise is a beautiful children's book about twins Astrid and Apollo preparing for their birthday.
Both twins have some fantastic gift ideas but will Apollo be able to pull his off in time for their birthday!
I love this series. This is my second read of the series so far but highly recommend them.
The family in the story is Hmong American and I love seeing different cultures in children's books today!
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A very simple story without drama. It's easy to read, making it an ideal for the transition from picture books to chapter books..

Thank you to NetGalley and Capstone for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

On this latest adventure, we find twins Astrid and Apollo preparing birthday gifts for one another.

Through wanting to find the perfect gift for each other, V.T. Bidania once again weaves a beautiful tale of sibling bonding and family support.

The illustrations provided by Evelt Yanait are bright and colourful, which only add to the overtone and warmth of the story.

I enjoyed reading another adventure with the twins and hope to read more. I would recommend this book for early chapter book readers.

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Thanks to NetGalley for giving me this advanced copy of this book, and my legitimate thanks to the author for giving me the opportunity to read his book.

A book where we are told about two brothers who are very close who birth on the same day. To do so, each one creates or invents a gift that the other might like.

It’s the twins’ birthday! Each year, Astrid and Apollo get special presents for one another. This year, they want the gifts to be a surprise.

Astrid and Apollo were the cutest characters I read that day, I read it and they seemed super cute when looking for a gift or craft for their other brother.
4.0

Cute story with easy-to-read text perfect for early elementary kids. And a nice way to bring the Hmong people and culture to the attention of kids.

I received an electronic ARC from Capstone through NetGalley.
Twins Apollo and Astrid are preparing surprise birthday gifts for each other. Readers see what Astrid is making and have to use context clues to guess what Apollo is getting his sister. The surprise works out well and both are delighted with their presents.
Simple to follow text for mid elementary level readers. Great to see a Hmong family showcased in this book series.

Another great early reader to add to my growing classroom shelf! Twins Astrid and Apollo go on fun adventures while teaching readers about some of the aspects of the culture of Laos. (There are Hmong word translations at the beginning of each book.) The easy to follow plots and engaging storylines are great for this age group.

In the newest book, it is Astrid and Apollo's birthday. Their tradition is to buy one another gifts, but they have to keep it a surprise. Astrid overhears bits and pieces of Apollo's conversations with their parents. She thinks she has her gift all figured out, but is she right?

The Astrid and Apollo series is perfect for kids in grades 1 to 3. Highly recommend!

Thanks to Netgalley, the author, illustrator and Capstone for an early copy to review.

This was a cute enough story of a Hmong-American family getting ready for a birthday.

The ending was telegraphed, and perhaps it wasn't for the age group that this was written for, and perhaps it was, and that made the reader feel as though they had one over on Astrid. Either way, though it was brightly colored, and a quick story, there wasn't much suspense on what the present was, because the title of the book kind of gave it away.

So, yeah, a cute story, but that was about it.

Probably good for kids to see representation, though.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. </em>

I had never read an Astrid and Apollo book before but I really liked this one! It was a really sweet story about Asian American twins. This is an excellent example of an "own voices" story without being flashy or pushy. Fun, sweet and exciting. I can't wait to read more from this series.

This is such a sweet story about twins planning each other’s birthday surprises! It was such a cute read with an amazing message. It also was very educational about Hmong culture! It is a must read!

Very cute book with lovely illustrations and I appreciate that the protagonists are Hmong people- well thought out diversity is always a good thing! This would be appropriate for children above the age of 5, and encourage them to talk to you about it. The sibling relationship is very real, and they're not annoyingly cute, or overly antagonistic to each other. Very refreshing depiction, and it's so nicely narrated , all kids reading it might want a puppy! It's easy enough, as said above, to read for a 5 year old.

What a fun little chapter book!

My son was instantly drawn into the book because there was a little sister named Elaina just like his.

My favorite part as a parent was the length.

We are just starting to read chapter books and most chapter books are longer and very intimidating to a seven year old. This was perfect for new readers!

The story was cute and the illustrations beautiful.

We homeschool through a curriculum named Torchlight and focus on geography and cultures and I think this would make a lovely addition.

The information and glossary at the end of the book were a great touch!

I personally identified with the book because I am a twin also! The bond between twins is something special and out of this world This was a feel good, cute and happy story of a surprise birthday gift from one twin to another. I really enjoyed this feel good read. This is a great book for my students. The illustrations are so bright and colorful. The one thing I will say is even though the book does a great job on presenting the reader with cultural information on Laos and Hmong people, for "Hmong Words" I was expecting to read those words through the story, however this didn't happen. Other than that, I enjoyed this.

This is another great addition to the Astrid and Apollo series. The twins are having a birthday and are both working hard to get a wonderful gift for the other. My students are loving this series and are looking forward to seeing more stories about this fun family.

Another adorable chapter book from VT Bidania! The twins are giving birthday presents to each other. We know Astrid will give Apollo a cat tshirt she makes but what will Apollo give her? The clues will make the reader keep guessing up to the end. Love seeing how nice these siblings are to each other! Love seeing a Hmong family in a book where the focus is not on culture or identity. We need more diverse books like this esp now during a time where there is so much racism against Asian Americans. If more kids read books like this maybe they could see poc kids not as the other but as who they are, humans. Love Hmong details like food during meals and wall hanging. Will recommend this to all my students and teacher friends! Thank you Capstone for publishing so many diverse chapter books!

"𝙎𝙪𝙝-𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙚!"
"Astrid and Apollo and the Puppy Surprise" by V.T. Bidania, is as heartwarming a story as it sounds! It is a short little story about how the twins surprise each other every birthday, and this year the stakes are so much higher.
This book is entertaining, educative, flawless, and fills you with fuzzy feelings. Reading the relationship between the siblings, made me wish I had one. Bidania does a wonderful job of building up the characters, each of them with a different yet charming personality, and also establishes wonderful chemistry between the family members; all without disrupting the pace of the story and with a little bit of mystery, this book demands to be read!
And I must take a moment to appreciate those gorgeous illustrations, which made this story come alive! With such warm and bright colors, it was visually very appealing to flip through the pages and see what happens next.
The story flows smoothly and I think, is a perfect book for children who are starting to step into the world of stories!
This book also has a small little guide for pronunciation and meaning of some difficult words, including a little information about the heritage of the Hmong people, which was very enlightening.

Although this part of a series, I assure you that it can be read like a stand-alone. I would definitely buy this book for my younger cousins and friends!