"Afraid of Your Neighbor" is a wonderful story about not making assumptions and not drawing factual conclusions without the evidence of your fears.

Frog loses his ball and cannot find it anywhere. He assumes that the new neighbor who has just moved into the community (whom he has never met or even seen) is the thief. Frog's forest friends rally around his suspicions and are ready to storm the new neighbor's home and retrieve Frog's ball.

Only little mouse is brave enough to confront the new arrival and seek out the truth. What will she encounter when she meets the so-called stealer? Will he be a kind, gentle, inviting new neighbor or a dangerous rogue thief ready to terrorize everyone in the forest?

The gorgeous illustrations are colorful, detailed and engaging. The author has included discussion questions at the end of the book that are sure to spark conversations about the life lesson that is being presented. It teaches that it is best to approach an unknown situation with logic and evidence rather than with your imagination and suspicion which can lead to jumping to incorrect conclusions.

I love the book and would recommend it in classrooms and elementary school libraries.

Always love a good story that teaches a lesson through their animal characters.

I did enjoy the pictures that went along with the story.

I loved the underlying message this story shares. I also thought it was interesting how the items that were originally used to be “weapons” were repurposed into something far better at the end!

I absolutely adored this book, and both my 5 and 7 year olds enjoyed it as well! This book has several important lessons mixed in to a simple but entertaining story. The forest animals are in a tizzy about their new neighbor, who they believe has stolen frog’s ball. They decide to get the ball back, and then mob mentality makes them begin to embellish the story more and more as they meet up with more animal friends. They are soon accusing the new animal of being mean and stealing the ball. One animal friend, the mouse, is cautious about being angry at someone they don’t even know. The story touches on fear of the unknown and making assumptions in a way that kids can understand. In the end, they learn to lead with kindness as the animals make a new friend and have a wonderful night together.

The illustrations in the book are beautiful and help tell the story. The story is simple to understand yet teaches big lessons.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kind World Publishing for the read of this adorable book!

I cannot say enough good things about this one - the lessons for the little ones are endless. (1) Don't judge a book by its cover - until you know someone (or something) you cannot assume. Those that may seem scary on the outside might be kind and lonely on the inside. (2) Fighting is never the answer. Friendship, on the other hand, is. This one was pitch perfect with precious illustrations to boot!

When Frog hears that his missing ball is at the new neighbor's house, he automatically assumes that his toy was stolen. He gathers friends to help him confront the thief. They insist on bringing weapons. Luckily, one small creature offers the voice of reason . . . and a sensible solution to the problem.

A nice lesson in how making assumptions about the unknown can be harmful.

And, I LOVED the author's gorgeous illustrations.

I absolutely loved this story, and its message that just because something is unknown and scary, it doesn't make it in any way bad.

Frog has misplaced his ball down by a river, so he and his friends Hare and Duck look high and low for it with no luck. When Mouse comes by to tell them that a new neighbor has moved in and it looks like they had Frog's ball, everyone else immediately assumes the worst - the new neighbor is a thief! As Frog and his friends band together the assumptions about their unknown neighbor escalate, from them just being a thief to them being a very big, and very dangerous thief!

But luckily Mouse has his own objections, and goes against the group to gives the "dangerous" stranger a chance, with wonderful results for all.

Afraid of Your Neighbor written by Katharina E. Volk and illustrated by Malgosia Zajec is a delightful story with whimsical illustrations.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kind World Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this title!

What a fantastic book. My boys ages 10 & 8 loved it. A story about not jumping to conclusions about people we don't know.

Similar to “The Someone New”, assumptions almost get frog and his friends into trouble when his ball goes missing. Thank goodness their friend Mouse decides to save the day by giving a new neighbor the benefit of the doubt.

The art is PHENOMENALLLLL!!

The characters are FREAKING cuter than pie, and the storyline is simple and conveys the message that ALL OF US need to hear- not only kiddos:

-we shouldn't make assumptions before we know the whole picture or someone
-we should form our OWN opinions about people or situations instead of 'following the crowd'
-we should ALWAYS treat everyone with kindness

I loved how the items that the animals initially brought with them to confront their new neighbor ended up being re-purposed into tools to bring them together- creating a bonfire and stuffing their faces with pancakes, because WHO DOESN'T LIKE PANCAKES?!!? YUMMO!

By the end of this, I wanted to live in the Hares den, drink hot chocolate and eat pancakes with my new friends!

A funny but sweet story about the harm assumptions can cause. Whimsical illustrations and funny characters made this a delightful read!

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This is a book about kindness and friendship and how you sometimes need to listen to yourself rather than the whole crowd.

It's not only children who a$$ume the worst about unfamiliar people. When my grandparents came to the US, they huddled in an enclave of people from their country and read newspapers in their own languages because they were afraid of the established people who were, in turn, afraid of them.
This is the very thing that is presented and the fear and assumptions by the forest dwelling animals to the newcomer. Teach the children that the cycle of fear may be broken.
I requested and received a free temporary e-book from Kind World Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!

'Afraid of Your Neighbor' has cute engaging illustrations. The story is a bit of a smack-you-in-the-face with the lesson, but overall kids will like to go on this little adventure with these forest friends.

WHO SHOULD READ IT: Young children who enjoy animal stories.

Thank you @Netgalley and @ibpalovesindies for early access to this ARC in return for an unbiased and voluntary review

Thanks to Netgalley and Kind World Publishing for a free digital copy.

This is a great book about assumptions. I thought the story was so funny and the illustrations were great! A great message for kids to learn about not jumping to conclusions.

The cute animal characters and intriguing title drew me to the book. The animal neighborhood gets a new resident and the animals lose their ball to them. They concoct a plan to get their ball back from the unknown neighbor. I like the air of mystery in the story. The themes featured are judging someone before you know them, violence not being an answer, teamwork/togetherness, fear of change/newness, assumptions, kindness, and also of trying to speak up when you have a differing opinion in a group setting (ex: Mouse).

The art was very well colored.

*ARC provided by Kind World Publishing and NetGalley.

We loved this tale of friendship and making assumption and gave us so much to talk about. The illustrations are wonderful and we can’t recommend it enough.
I’m looking forward to read more the author because we haven’t had a chance to check any previous books but it’s high on our list now.

A story about a frog who loses his ball and while in search of it another friend says they saw it by the new residents cave. Instantly assumptions are made that he must have stole it.! As they get together a group of friends to get it back the story grows more and more. While a little mouse keeps trying to speak up and finally just goes to the cave to say hi.

I absolutely love this book. It is such a wonderful story about remembering not to make assumptions and how a story can grow out of control. Don't be afraid to speak up and do the right thing. I also love this because it also is about the little story's we make up in our head and that another's point of view could be completely different.

The illustrations in this book is beautiful with a paint strike feel. The characters are expressive. Thanks you to net galley for the opportunity to review this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest feedback. 5 stars

A tale that only animals can help us see ourselves in our own fears. When frog loses his ball his friends lead him to believe that a new "resident" has stolen it. With the help of their friends for reinforcement, they go out to find the lost ball and learn a valuable lesson. Actually they learn a few lessons about assumption, kindness, and fear of the unknown.

It is a funny look at ourselves thru the eyes of animals.

A special thank you to Kind Word Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

Afraid of your Neighbor is a book all about giving others the benefit of the doubt. Frog can't find his ball. Mouse says they found it near a new neighbor's home, and the rest of the friends take up arms to get the ball back. While I liked the premise and agree that people need to work on processing situations without jumping to conclusions, this book could really use a specific call out of how wrong the mob's actions were. I would have loved to be able to talk with my child citing when the frog felt bad and apologized for jumping to the wrong conclusion. I like that the book said to "Talk About It", to reinforce the moral of the story, just wish it was more. The illustrations were engaging and colorful!