Herbie’s Big Adventure
Written and Illustrated by Jennie Poh
Picture Book Windows  9/01/2016
978-5158-0234-1
32 pages   Ages 3—5

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“THE BIG DAY IS HERE!”

“It’s time for Herbie the hedgehog to go on his first big adventure, but is he ready? Herbie discovers that with a little imagination, he’s got all the courage he needs to face the big wide world.” [BACK COVER]

Review
On a late summer-early fall day—maybe a day just like today—Herbie was born. He snuggled in his mommy’s arms and thought it was perfect. Herbie learned how to play. He could rumble and tumble, burrow, and “roly-poly down a steep mountain.” Herbie was growing up. Mommy told him he was ready to go on his first solo foraging adventure.
Herbie was not excited to go, especially alone. But Mommy persisted and one morning Herbie nervously began walking away. A brisk westerly wind picked him up and tossed him into a pile of leaves. Herbie foraged and found an apple core. “Foraging is fun!” He thought, and then another westerly wind, much stronger than before, carried Herbie away in a leaf. When he landed, Herbie found himself in a pile of white snow. Would Herbie find somewhere to sleep and then his way home? If not, what would he do in a land of snow?
Herbie’s BIG Adventure is cute, much like Herbie himself. Herbie musters his courage and bravely heads out, one big steady step at a time. In the land of snow, Herbie’s imagination serves him well. The leaf he’s blown away in, Herbie uses as a hat in the snow. When he gets tired, Herbie tries snuggling up to a “prickly relative” (actually a rose bush, bare except for its sharp thistle), and under an “owl’s wing” before finding a “great mother snow bear.” He snugs up to the snow bear and sleeps cozily through the night. Herbie wakes up just in time to say thank you before an easterly wind blows him home.
Young children will love the adorable Herbie. Herbie handles his adventure away from mom with courage. Play and imagination help him through his adventure and can help young children as well. Herbie can help children prepare for their first day away from mom and maybe take away some of the anxiety they feel from being separated from her safe arms. And just like Herbie in Herbie’s BIG Adventure, children will return to mommy’s snuggly arms at day’s end.

HERBIE’S BIG ADVENTURE. Text and illustrations copyright © 2016 by Jennie Poh. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Picture Book Windows, North Mankato, MN

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Find Herbie’s BIG Adventure on Goodreads HERE.

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Reprinted with permission from HERBIE’S BIG ADVENTURE © 2016 by Jennie Poh, Picture Book Windows, an imprint of Capstone, Illustrations © 2016 by Jennie Poh.

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Copyright © 2016 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews. All Rights Reserved

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Herbie’s BIG Adventure
Written and Illustrated by Jennie Poh
Picture Book Windows 9/01/2016
9781515802341