[Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson to for my gifted copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.]

I've followed Melissa Ferguson for years and have really enjoyed reading her sweet romcoms! I was so excited to hear she was writing her family's story as a children's book.

The illustrations throughout this book are absolutely stunning, and I loved the book's emphasis on the beauty of nature and family. My children loved this book and felt so inspired by it!

Such a sweet children's book. I highly recommend!

Adorable book about a family buying a plot of land and building their home.
So much of this story resonates with me! While we didn't build our home a move back in 2021 resulted in many of the same things happening; Kittens, chicks, ducks, flowers, a garden and so many memories.

This is a gorgeously illustrated book, telling the heart warming story of a family following wild dreams, into a new life of having a farm! Melissa Ferguson is one of my favorite authors, and her skills are varied, delivering not just in the world of romcoms, but also here in the world of children’s books. My kids loved this book! My youngest daughter wanted to count all the animals. Highly recommend this sweet book to kids of all ages!

This is the story of a family who buys land at an auction and moves out to the country. There are beautiful illustrations of people and landscapes.

Based on the author’s true story of buying land at an auction and envisioning life with her family in the country with a newly built house with a beautiful setting and encouraging creativity in children to get out of the house and explore.

A cozy story of starting a life on a farm, complete with absolutely lovely illustrations.

To be honest, this was almost too picturesque - on my first read through it felt more like a house and home magazine article than a picture book for kids.

However, the illustrations saved it for me. I read this book a second time for those, and they added another, valuable, layer to the story (putting in some character and mess, making it a little more authentic).

Also, feature mountains and a farm in any book, and it'll shine.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

DARLING illustrations and kind of a dream story! Where’s my friendly farmhouse? While it seems very personal to this family, I love their story. It might not appeal to a very wide audience.

I’ve been reading Melissa’s adult novels and following her homesteading adventures on instagram for a couple years now, so I was delighted to find out she wrote a sweet childrens book about her farmhouse! It has beautiful illustrations and shares the beauty of nature, animals, family, and home life. I will definitely be purchasing a copy for my kiddo!

Thank you so much to Melissa, Thomas/Tommy Nelson, and NetGalley for the e-galley!

2/5 – This one was not a hit with my kiddo and it wasn’t my favorite either. Melissa Ferguson’s picture book invites you to dream of a simpler life as a family builds a charming homestead—with strawberry fields, kittens, and all—but for us, it just fell a little flat. I can see it doing really well on the shelves of a store in Magnolia in Waco, but it wasn’t for me.

This book feels like a big hug from simpler times. I am so happy that I had a chance to read this! I love the illustrations, but the story captivates you from the get go. Perhaps it's because I, too, dream of building my dream house in the country with my family, but this book really embodied the idea of "dreaming big" and never giving up on those dreams.

This beautiful picture book celebrates a family's real experience of buying land out in the country and building their own farmhouse. The author created this story with input from her children, and the story comes from her children's perspective, describing the family's experience pursuing this dream, and what it was like for them to finally start living the life they had dreamed of. The story is full of lovely sensory details, and the author's note at the end includes touching reflections and family photos.

This book is charming and delightful, and it has the feel of a classic. This will appeal to readers who have had similar experiences, or who like to dream about living in the country. I really enjoyed this, and the story and illustrations radiate joy and love.

The illustratons in this book were absolutrly adorable. So delicate and pretty. I loved the color choices as well. As far as the actual story goes, I found it a little boring.

My six year old liked this story. He followed along and understood what was going on. We couldn't figure out who was narrating the story until about halfway through. Once we figured out it was the young boy, I thought the voice should have been more childlike. It was lovely writing, just not the right voice for a kid.

Obviously it's a recent and true story as stated by the author's note, but it felt like it could have been written in 1950s. The homestead vibes are not my thing, so I'm not sure I'd buy this book, but it was a nice read for a February afternoon.

The illustrations were the best part. Gorgeously done, whimsical and layered.

Lovely watercolor illustrations and story ! I can think of several friends who have built homes or moved out to more rural properties who would love this book. It also made me nostalgic for my childhood out in the middle of nowhere with chickens and kitties and a huge garden. Just lovely.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tommy Nelson for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Fairytale story of taking the leap to move to the countryside

While it is wonderful in so many ways to see a first brave step lead to happiness, this story feels like it’s missing a challenge or two (there must have been some?) in making an amazing dream come true. Wish there was more reality to the story so it felt real.

A precious story of a dream come to life…or a dream of a life! The wonderful and endearing story of a life built from the ground up.

A sweet, family centered picture book on reaching for your dreams as a family. This is the true story of author, Melissa Ferguson’s life. I love following her on IG and seeing her beautiful farmhouse life! The story and the illustrations in this book were incredibly done!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tommy Nelson publishing for the ARC of this beautiful picture book!

A childrens book & Melissa Ferguson? I'm sold! This eas lovely & beautiful! I absolutely cant wait to get a physical copy in our home to read to our children. Wonderful story.

Our Friendly Farmhouse is an idyllic story of building a home and enjoying the farm life on an abundant land which was purchased at auction. Yes, the path to buying and building a home is scary, but clearly this true story turned children’s fiction is meant to be light and bring hope to all reading it. This harkens to Americana, which unfortunately, isn’t accessible to everyone. And while we can’t expect fiction to fit everyone’s lifestyle and life circumstances, this story delivers a true life depiction of a proud family, who are united in their friendly farmhouse.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tommy Nelson for the eARC!
This book is very cute! The artwork is beautiful and the story was very sweet. There are a variety of settings, animals, and characters to talk about with young children, as well as some vocabulary.
Most children in the target age range for this book might have trouble engaging with the story. While visually engaging, the plot provides little of interest for young children. It was very monotonous and depicted an everyday life that was fairly mundane. There are plenty of merits to the mundane, of course, but the target audience may not find it entertaining. There was no overarching lesson or moral to the story either. Parents may enjoy this as a cozy farmhouse story, but children may not be as inclined to sit through the full book.