Let's Build a Dam!
by Daniel Fehr
Pub Date 23 May 2023 | Archive Date 31 Mar 2023
North South Books Inc., NorthSouth Books
Children's Fiction | Outdoors & Nature



I am reviewing a copy of Let's Build a Dam through North South Books and Netgalley:


May , Lily and Noah are siblings who are building a dam. Stone by stone their dam grows higher and higher, until their creation attracts the attention of fishermen, pirates, and even the King and his fleet. The sky's the limit, until Noah wants his stone back.



In this beautifully illustrated books upon each scene helps the imagination of the child grow. Children will delight in pointing out the changing details on each page as they laugh along to this picture book about the boundlessness of imagination and sibling friendship.



I give Let's Build a Dam five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

Very fun book about imagination. Love the inclusion of the king and the pirates. The illustrations are beautiful. Would highly recommend.

I liked it! It talks about not giving up and working together as a team. You could even use it to teach what happens when one person’s attitude or choices affects the whole team. The illustrations are beautiful as well.

Thank you NorthSouth Books and Netgalley.com for the opportunity to read this book. I enjoyed it very much. It's a wonderful story for children about teamwork and using one's imagination. My absolute favorite part about this book is the illustrations. The illustrator, Mariachiara Di Giorgio does a superb job giving each character a personality and showing some beautiful landscapes with adventures in the background.

This book reminded me of my childhood and how my sisters, cousins, and friends would have these high adventures in our backyard by the creek. I highly recommend this book for any grandparent, parent, or teacher wanting to provide a mix of adventure, and imagination for the child(ren) in their lives.

One thing I would like to do with my sons when reading picture books is we'd explore the illustrations and work on reading, colors, critical thinking, and math skills. LET"S BUILD A DAM! provides this ability, for example, in one illustration you can ask, "What color is the rock the boy is pulling out?" "What will happen when he pulls out the rock?" and "Who is the prince? Is he happy, sad, or angry?"

Overall, I highly recommend LET's BUILD A DAM! It'll be released on May 23, 2023. You can preorder a copy of this book on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, or NorthSouth Books.

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
Three siblings build a dam. As the dam grows, so does their imagination of what is happening around them.
I really liked the illustration for this book. The growing imagination worked some but did not work for me in this format. I think I would have liked the story better if it were longer and each element was given more time to develop.

I was lured in by the beautiful cover and the illustrations within did not disappoint. Loved the little details and the story too was a lovely celebration of the golden camaraderie of sibling hood and childhood imaginations.

Unfortunately this book was a bit of a bust for our family. The story and events seemed very underdeveloped. There was no real rhyme or reason as to what the kids were building a damn for which made it lack substance.

I think this could have went in the direction of teaching kids how to use their imaginations outdoors but it really fell short.

The illustrations were beautiful though. The muted green tones mixed with the warmer colors was just stunning!

“Let’s Build A Dam!” Was written and translated by Daniel Fehr and illustrated by Mariachiara Di Giorgio. While beautifully illustrated in it’s muted tones I found the story a confusing and disjointed. The events that occurred seemed random, unrealistic (which sounds funny for a children’s picture book) and underdeveloped. I thought it was going to be a story about how it’s better to give than take or a similar morality lesson but this idea wasn’t fully explored or developed either. In general, I don’t think I’d recommend this book.

Sweet picture book with great illustrations that follow what happens when May, Lily, & Noah decide to build a dam. Will give laughs and opportunity for kids to add their ideas on what happens in the story.

Lily, Noah, and May are siblings who wants to build a dam. Their imagination takes them on a journey were pirates and more show up. Although it is a fun children’s book, it felt like it was lacking something.

The pictures were something I enjoyed the most. Most children’s books are not made with movements, and as this one only has one scene, building a dam, we get to see the kids moving along the story. This is what made me give it a 3 out of 5 stars.

I do believe young readers will have a fun time reading this.

Happy reading!♥️

I got this book for free from netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and NorthSouth Books for the e-ARC to read and review. This was a fun and imaginative story that feels really authentic to the way kids dream up their adventures: for example, playing around with rocks in the water instantly turns into building a dam that will draw in pirates and kings - and it's entirely real until one rock is picked out and shatters the dam (and the illusion.) That said, I wasn't whisked away by the magic entirely, though it was a fun read that will inspire more daydreaming, for sure.

First off beautifully drawn, it sets nice color and grabs you through the story. This is a nice story but it felt more like a lesson and how a town/community joins together. The kids have a wonderful idea to build a dam. They get help from some of the adults. A deep sense of message is what I think is missing.

I just reviewed Let's Build a Dam! by Daniel Fehr. #LetsBuildaDam #NetGalley

The illustrations are definitely the best part of this book, but unfortunately there isn't much else that stands out to me here. I just found the storyline lacking and kept waiting for something to happen, especially in the middle section where they're really just... Building the dam and then the rocks fall and they... Go home.
Overall, a bit of a let down that didn't match the level of illustrations, and it's a book I wouldn't pick up again.

Unfortunately I dont think that there is much of a clear story, if I hadn't read the description before I read the book, Im not sure that I would have understood what was going on. The art is cute, but the story is disjointed.

What a great story to encourage children to use their imagination. Lily, Noah, and May use their skills in make believe to enjoy the outdoors and create a world together through their dam project. The illustrations are gorgeous, allowing the reader to become a part of their world, too.

𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Gemstone Dam
𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿: Noah
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Easy
𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲: Children’s book
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Slice of life
5/𝟱

🌱THE EXCELLENT
~ The Pacing & wording were brilliant
~ The story taking across the illustrated dam was charming
~ Adorable bossy little girls ♥️

An absolutely charming story about 3 ingenious children on a mission on a random afternoon. Their spunk and ambitions are so big, that after luring fisher-people, a king and several pirates, they set their eyes on luring a whole emperor. Lol! Good for them.

I was charmed.

✨𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱.

🌱THE MEH
~ Nada

♡🌱 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲 ;)

Let's Build a Dam is an adorable little picture book that focuses on working together to make something bigger than yourself! I think it would be perfect to read with your littles to teach them about team work and how even the smallest stone can make a big splash! The art work is stunning and feels alive while the story is sweet and funny! I loved it!

Join three siblings as they work together to build a dam and recruit pirates and a king to help them along. The artwork on each page is full of greens and blues reminiscent of a creek such as the one they are building on.

Reading this brought me back to my childhood of playing in the creek in my backyard building dams and imaging kingdoms just like these siblings, The response of the mother at the end was also similar to how my parents respond to my hijinks.

All around, this is a lovely book to put in the hands of the adventurous children in your own life.

For the child full of adventure and a book that is whimsical in nature, is a delightful story about children building a dam one rock at a time.

I think every child has experienced this where this water, rocks and wonder. What will happen in this adventure? Very fun!

<i>A special thank you to North South Books and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

“Let’s Build a Dam” is one of the newest read aloud books coming out later this spring that depicts cooperation, imagination, and adventure amongst a sibling trio. As they build their dam bigger and bigger, they enlist more and more help from those around them. How big can the dam get? Find out in May when this title is released!

Thank you NetGalley and North South Books for allowing me to receive this book to review.