This was a cute and fun children's book about the Wetlands and enjoying the nature. I love the illustrations and how the story went so well with them! Super cute and fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for a review copy of this cute book in exchange for my review!

I read this book to my two-year-old son in preparation for our trip to visit my brother in Florida! I loved that this story was more than just a run-of-the-mill pretty book and pretty story. While the illustrations were stunning, this book offered even more – a more science-based look at an ecosystem we don’t get to see in our native state of Wisconsin. My son loved it! Thank you for the opportunity to read this book to him, we did end up purchasing a physical copy!

I got this on Netgalley in exchange for an honest reivew!

This was such a fun and informative picture book! I love these non-fiction books that combine magic and actual facts! I learned a lot about how the wetlands work, and it is a great resource to have when talking about nature with younger kids.

Readers will get a bird's eye--or perhaps I should say fairy eye's view--of the wetlands in this engaging picture book that educates youngsters while also stirring their imagination. The main character details han excursion into a wetland area. I like how the author speaks directly to children with a hypnotic prose that encourages observers of the wetlands to keep their eyes and ears open to the magic that lies around them. And speaking of magic, the reader is introduced to 2 spritely characters: Jack and Mini who offer a tour as well as helpful information about salmon, tides, migration and other facts about resident wildlife.

The illustrations add to the serenity of the book with muted watercolors. The first splashes of color in the book are the boots of the child and the flowers she spies nearby. When the fairies present themselves, they help the child navigate and understand more about the wetlands. It's a fun way to gently instruct the readers without feeling like a science book. I loved the strong emphasis the book places on being still, taking the time to listen, and learning to appreciate what nature has to offer. A message needed now more than ever at a time when children are losing touch with the natural world as screens have overtaken school and play times.

At the end of the book, the author includes information about a restored wetland that inspired the book. Interested readers may want to further research wetland habitats or even better, seek out local wetland areas to explore for themselves. Hopefully this book will help spark a greater interest in the natural world for children of all ages. This book would make a wonderful supplement to an elementary science classroom.

Note for Christian parents: the author gives Mother Nature credit for the successful restoration of the wetland area described. This could lead to a discussion of varying worldviews and how it compares to the concept of a personal Creator involved in His creation.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary digital copy of Fun in the Mud through NetGalley for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received and the content of this review is entirely my own.

An advert for wetlands nature, and a very pretty one at that – it's just a major flaw, and perhaps a lack of re-readable entertainment, that make me think this a highly optional purchase. Our narrator is a young person, who knows that you have to be mindful and careful and patient enough to see any wildlife in a wetland, only for two wonderful fairies to turn up, and the child to then say something along the lines of "how can you be living here – it's boring?!". You what now? Talk about singing the praises of a place where very little happens then stating an opinion about that littleness. Anyway, once in conversation with the critters they tell us a few things about what happens as regards the other inhabitants, the end. So thank the artist for the romantic, ethereal touch to the visuals, which as I say are really strong. They've certainly been thought about more than the text – and I know the author's heart is in the right place, having worked on wetland restoration no less, but this felt too much like a nature lesson wanting to disguise the fact that that is what it is, and a clumsy one at that, obviously. Two and a half stars.

'Fun in the Mud: A Wetlands Tale' by Sally Bolger is a nice nature book with muted illustrations. It shows the wetlands from the perspective of children and children will love to discover them in this way.

It's not quite the picture book I'd thought it would be. I felt like it was info dumped about the marshlands throughout the book. I had a hard time continuing it.

This was a sweet picture book! The back matter discusses the restoration of the Giacomini Wetlands in California and how, as a conservationist involved with the project, the author was awed by the transformation of the land. She has written a fairy story leading the reader through exploring the magic and beauty of wetlands. The illustrations are beautiful and simple, with a limited color palette that makes the few pops of color stand out. This book would be a fun one to have in a collection and a nice companion piece to learning about wetland habitats and animals.

#FunintheMud #NetGalley

Cute book about a wetland and the creatures that live there, including fairies. The illustrations were soft and muted, which helped with the feeling of the story.

Fun in the Mud is a cute story about a child who goes to the wetlands and finds fairies who tell them all about the wetlands. I wasn't expecting the fairy aspect and thought it would be more non-fiction. I think even animals who live in the wetlands telling about them would have been preferable. The fairy aspect really threw me off, especially for a book that has such great illustrations and information. Other than the fairies I liked that the reader will definitely want to visit a wetland after this book. I'd recommend it for someone who's taking a child on a trip and wants to get them excited to visit a wetland. It would be challenging to incorporate into a school setting as younger children would have a hard time understanding some parts of the book are real and some are pretend.

I did not realize that wetlands were important in the world. I have always.thought they.were ugly., muddy lakes or rivers that have ugly animals there. But upon reading this cute book, I have learned the opposite of what I have been thinking. We do need wetlands to bring uncertain animals that we don't usually see. I see wetlands totally.different now and I am glad for the.change of heart. Children would love this book because of the.fairies. they.are.the ones teaching the children about the wetlands. So fun to read and loved it. The illustrations are cute.

I have received a free copy of the book and is voluntarily writing a review

Thanks NetGalley for the preview!

I rest thought this was nonfiction and it got a little weird when there was fairies mixed in. Not a favorite of mine. The illustrations are nice.

I had high hopes for this book and to have it to read to my toddler but I feel like it was a missed opportunity. Wetlands are beautiful and have lots of opportunity to showcase the color of each animal you were talking about. It didn’t really showcase anything super interesting about the wetlands and there we way to many large words that younger kids won’t understand and it’s to many back to back so it doesn’t provide a good spacing to be able to stop and explain the words.

Published: 11/20/18

Thank you NetGalley and Girl Friday Productions, Roundtree Books for accepting my request to read and review Fun in the Mud.

Sadly, this was a miss for me. I was confused throughout the story and unfortunately the illustrations didn't help guide me. I kept wondering if this was a fairy tale or fiction incorporated into nonfiction. I was and am still confused.

Fun in the Mud has been around since 2018 and I wonder why I’ve only just found this gentle story of the wetlands.
The author, Sally Bolger, is a writer, explorer, and conservationist. As a project manager for the Point Reyes National Seashore Association, she helped restore the Giacomini Wetlands in West Marin.
Regina Shklovsky drew the pictures and amazingly this is also her first book for children.
From a forest school perspective, playing in the mud for us might mean getting dirty, making potions, splashing in puddles and letting kids explore their surroundings.
I thought the book might include elements of that, but it’s far more focused on nature and the creatures that live in the wetlands. The story is centred around two wetland fairies and their explanations of what makes it fun to explore the low-level mud flats and banks of the wetlands.
It’s beautiful to look at, full of fantastic evocative language (but not much muddy mess if you ask me!). The pictures really conjure up a sense of what the vast expanses of wetlands are like and what you can find there.
I would think this book would make a good resource for parents and educators about to visit wetland wildlife reserves like the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Arundel which we have been to many times. However, some of the creatures weren’t known to me and that might be a gap in my knowledge of wetland wildlife or it might represent that there are different wetland creatures in the US to over here in the UK.
Overall, I enjoyed this short picture book and I am sure it will remain on the shelves of nature fans for many years to come.
I received an ARC (Advance Reader’s Copy) via Netgalley in order to review this book.

Oh what a charming book!

When I go to buy a storybook for children, I look for two things.
One, are the illustrations beautiful, do they pull me in, would they hold a child's attention?
Two, will this story give us something, will it improve the life of the children I'll read it to?
This book? Absolutely, to both!

Not only is this book informative about the different forms of life in the wetlands, it is also full of wonder, of admiration for the tiny details, inviting the main character (who isn't gendered! bonus points!) to take the time to look for all the beautiful things around them.

It is a perfect way to introduce the wetlands to children who don't know about them, as well as to explore their beauty with children who have previous knowledge.

I am giving this book 4 stars because I am personally not a fan of faeries in books that are set in "the real world", as it can confuse children into separating what is true and what isn't.


"Wetlands are magical places,
and now I know that they are
filled with wondrous creatures
who have found ingenious ways
to make the wetlands their home."


Thank you NetGalley and Roundtree Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.

***I thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in return for an honest review***

Fun in the Mud is a serene little children’s story that sheds light on nature’s most overlooked ecosystem—the wetlands. This book brought me back so many memories with just 30 pages of gorgeous watercolour art and whimsical poetry.

It’s a very unique topic to touch upon in children’s literature, and Sally Bolger did it in a very lovely way. We rarely see books like these nowadays, and it warmed my heart a lot. It’s never too late to appreciate nature, and you’re never too old for an adventure.

Definitely going to get this for my little sister <3
★ ★ ★ ★/5

⊹ . ⋆ ☽ ⋆ . ➶

This book made me long for an adventure with my kids in the wetlands. It named so many kinds of plant and wildlife and showed images of all kinds of life teeming in the area. It would be a fun book to read and then follow up with a scavenger hunt.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Fun in the Mud: A Wetlands Tale by Sally Bolger is a beautifully illustrated book that introduces readers to the wonders of wetlands. The story revolves around Jack and Mini, two playful fairies who reside in the wetlands. Through their eyes, the readers get to explore the fascinating world of wetlands and learn interesting facts about it.

The author has done an excellent job of blending fantasy with real-world information about wetlands. The readers will be delighted to join Jack and Mini as they attend frog pond sing-alongs, swim with smolts, and watch Pickleweed Parade. The pace of the story is perfect, allowing readers to savor every moment spent in this magical world.

The illustrations are soft, colorful and beautifully bring the story to life. Children will love looking at them while adults will appreciate their artistic details.

Overall, Fun in the Mud: A Wetlands Tale is a charming book that combines education with entertainment flawlessly. It’s perfect for young children who love nature or have an interest in learning about it. I highly recommend it as a gift for a young buddy naturalist or anyone who loves fun-filled stories with a touch of magic.

**ARC Via NetGalley**

Fun in the Mud is a beautifully written and illustrated book about wetlands for children age 3 and up. Part fantasy/myth, part nature guide, part reflection on the value of slowing down to appreciate nature, this is a book that kids and grownups alike will love. The author was involved in the planned restoration of the Giacomini Wetlands, and her love for the area shines in this book. I did read this to my two-year old, but because of the more gentle, minimalist art style and good number of words, he wasn't as into it. But it's definitely a book I would buy and keep for when he's a little older!

Thanks to Roundtree Books and to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.