Great book! There are certainly a ton of kids books out there that encourage readers to follow their dreams. However, I think that this book definitely brought something fresh to the world of kids' books, due to the numerous awesome elements that were included in this book. The first thing that was done well was the way this book was written. Majority of the book was told through Bean and Bella's dialogue, which I really enjoyed. This choice also made the book feel more personal, and gave the reader the feeling that they were creating a spa alongside Bella and Bean. The next positive aspect of this book was the message: never give up on your dreams. As I mentioned earlier, this has become a bit of a cliche, but this book added some new twists and thoughts to it in a specific way that's hard to explain. Lastly, the illustrations were highly detailed and absolutely beautiful all around. Bravo!!

The illustrations in this adorable story bring the message home - a hippo’s dream, just like the dreams of the readers, can come true if spoken out loud. The images and colors float dreamlike onto the pages adding to the beauty of the friendship between Bella and Bean.

Absolutely charming! I love the message of working together, believing in your dreams, finding opportunities, thinking outside the box, the whole thing. The illustrations are adorable, and the story is lovely.

A big thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC with my 7 year old. As a parent, I loved this book so much and the message behind it. It was beautiful and the ending paragraph from the author definitely made me tear up. My daughter didn’t quite get what the story was trying to say until we read the end part together, but she liked the overall idea and loved the art.

The illustrations were adorable. This is definitely something I’d buy for her classroom or school library to be able to spread the message to other little kids!

Love love love! Whenever I tear up with children's book I know the message in the story is so important for children to grow up believing. Bean was perfectly fine shooting for ordinary but Bella had other plans. She didn't give up and ended up with something extraordinary and inspired Bean to do the same!

The illustrations in Bella and Bean make the book. They are beautiful! The story is good, and it has a relatable moral, but it feels a little underdeveloped. I do think children would like it, but it wouldn't be my first pick to buy for my classroom.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

I loved this. Two hippos are relaxing and thinking out loud about their life dreams. As they say, "the muddier the mud, the chattier the chat!" One of them wants to create a spa -- will it be successful, and will people come?
This book is sweet with such a wonderful message. It's such a great lesson-- we don't have to settle for just getting big!

Thanks to Pajama Press and NetGalley for the ARC! This book sends a great message to children to dream of big things they want to do when they grow up. The illustrations are vibrant and help bring the words to life. The story challenges the staus quo. It allows the reader to follow a hippo's story to achieve their dream with help along the way. Definitely a good message that I would love to read to my classroom!