Widewater

The Growly Trilogy #2

by Philip Ulrich, Erin Ulrich

Growly’s adventure has taken him far from home in search of C.J., his grandfather’s long-lost friend who disappeared over The Precipice. Now, the desperate quest continues as Growly, Chippy, and Tully find themselves facing a journey across the Ocean. In a makeshift sailboat, Growly and his friends embark on their greatest adventure yet. It is a journey that will take them to far-off lands and mysterious cities—into the unknown … across the wide, wide water.

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Fantasy, Chapter Books, Animals

254 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 2013

About the author

Philip and Erin Ulrich live in South Carolina with their two daughters. They enjoy adventures in the wild, as long as they can be home in time for dinner. Being Australian, Phil probably has natural-born abilities to hunt and wrestle dangerous creatures. He has used these natural abilities to finish in the top four in family balloon volleyball. An avid reader at heart, Erin loves to sit with a warm cup of coffee on a comfy chair and wishes these amenities were easier to find in the wild.

When they aren't writing stories, Phil & Erin run their own business, Design by Insight (designbyinsight.net), a website and book design company. Erin is also the author of Self-Publish: Moving from Idea to Product. Phil and Erin are currently at work on the continuing adventures of Growly.

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the first book and I love this one. This one is less exciting, more slowly paced, but it is also deeper and more elegant. I have heard the Ulrichs sigh and say "it's a middle book." It is. But it is a beautiful middle book. I thought that it was very creative, surprising, and like a great feast for the imagination.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

We finished the second Growly book this weekend while the girls were sick, again reading the whole thing together. It is a good trainer book for sweeping epics :)
Lydia says, "Every day I really wanted to read it because every chapter was so interesting and there was a good ending."

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

We really enjoyed this second book in the series. What I loved about the first (no scary villains, perseverance, positivity) was present in this one too. This one was slower with the action happening in the beginning and towards the end and not much going on in the middle. But it was still a good story, and the whole book had my kids asking me to keep reading.

One thing that really surprised me (though it did not affect my enjoyment of the story) was the shocking amount of spelling errors in this book. I marked them and counted ten. One or two errors like that in a book I expect, but ten is excessive. Things like “sat with has back” instead of “his back” or “his footprints where everywhere” instead of “his footprints were everywhere”. It was like the editor did spell check only and left it at that. I’ve never seen so many errors in one book. I know it’s the editor in me, but it bothered me a lot.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I blazed through this one trying to catch up with what my oldest has listened to so we can talk about it. He’s been absolutely dying to talk about what happens and will be very excited to hear I’m starting the third book now.

I didn’t like the ocean parts in Widewater quite as much as the land setting for the first one in the series, but the part from the mist onwards at the end was quite exciting. Still really appreciate the characters’ persistence in the midst of discouragement.

[Allison Gaspar · Rating 5 out of 5]

My boys love this series!

[Desiray Schultz hayner · Rating 5 out of 5]

We really love this book series such a cute read aloud with adventure and trials, friendship and bravery

[Christine Kallner · Rating 4 out of 5]

The middle of this one felt a bit over-long to me, but we can’t WAIT to start the third book!

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are loving these books!

[Beth Salesky · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 8 and 5 year old sons enjoyed this as a bedtime read aloud. They thoroughly enjoyed it, always wanting to read "more Growly" every night. It is the continuation of the gentle adventure story started in Begin. There are some long descriptive passages that are a little harder to follow, but overall we loved reading about the continuing adventures of Chippy and Growly. It's a great book about friendship and perseverance and love.

My one big pet peeve is the overwhelming number of grammatical errors in the kindle version of this book. I can overlook one or two, but it seemed as if nearly every chapter had a missing word of some syntax problem. I think it needed a good editing! Regardless, we are looking forward to Book #3

[Sarah B · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my second time reading through this series. I forgot how boring this book in particular is. It's extremely repetitive. Every town has the same characters in it, the kind mayor, the happy older couple who like to tease each other. There are quite a few chapters where nothing really happens. I spent a lot of time reading mechanically and realizing I wasn't paying attention at all. My girls are enjoying it though and we will keep going to the end.

[Myersandburnsie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My children and I love this series. Every night they begged for another chapter. Growly and Chippy are eternally optimistic! It’s a welcome air of encouragement among so many dark stories written for children. We can’t wait to dig into the final book in the series.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

It's awesome. The last part is a little scary but it works out in the end great. (by Ben, age 9)

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 7 and 4 yr old boys have loved this book and the continuing adventure of Growly! It's the first time they have ever asked for one more chapter! They can't wait to read the next one.

[Tabitha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Super monotonous after the excitement of the first book. I think it could have left out a good chunk of days at sea. It was hard to keep my kids interested as we read aloud.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not what I would typically pick as a 4-star read, but for my kids, it was a 4-5 star read. It is a calm story--not crazy action-packed. We read a couple of chapters a night before bed and for my anxious 7- and 4-year-old, this was a great read. Nothing scary, but a few things that are a bit suspenseful. Nice story about friendship. Everything works out. The description and language is soothing. We've read all three books in the trilogy now and recommend it for kids who like calmer stories.

I will note, however, that the 2nd and 3rd books in the series have a lot of typos. We were reading it out loud and could correct the typos as we read, so it still made sense to the kids. But if your child is reading this on his/her own, it may be a bit frustrating.

We look forward to reading the companion novel, Haven.

[Marla Gale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another wonderful book in the series. It was a bit slower paced, but I love the deep descriptive writing in the book. I actually love that it isn't super fast-paced. I absolutely love that the authors created characters that have great character, and showcase hard work, kindness, compassion, a thirst for education, loyalty, and never giving up. For me this reads like a classic and our family absolutely loved it!

[Sara Hollar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a sweet adventure story! This is a perfect bedtime read (ages 8, 5 & 4) because it's not too intense but still feels like an adventure. I wouldn't say it's the most well written book ever, but it's well worth a read aloud! This is the second book in the series, so be sure to start with book 1: Begin.

[Abbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are such pleasant reads. My kids are perhaps just a few years past the ideal age for them (I would say maybe 6-10) but they are eager for each new chapter anyway.

Everything in these novels is just a little too lovely and everyone is just a little too kind, but it's a nice place to spend a few hours.

[Kathy Eubanks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not nearly as good as the first book! This book was a bit boring for my family, and we lost interest early on.
We still love the characters and the positivity of this series. Hopeful for book 3 to have a little (actually a lot) more action!

[Tiffany Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll admit, I’m struggling with reading this series aloud, because I want a little more action and artistic, creative writing and less wandering in circles 😵‍💫, but my kids like it. We want to read book 3 and know the ending, but I need a break, ha!

[Jim Gale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great adventure for families to read together

What a fun adventure! Painted beautifully with words. We thoroughly enjoyed reading the continuing story of Growley and Chippy, as they search for CJ.

[Linnea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wordy but good story

[Meredith Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

(with Mabry)

[Melani Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book left us wanting to read the 3rd book in the series.

[Lydia258 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kids liked it but thought ir was a little slow.

[Karalyn]

Read aloud Samuel (7)

[Amye Olivero · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the series has gotten better with each book. My 5yo loves them.

[Pam]

A sweet book read because my grandkid shared it with me.