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Hatched
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Expected 2 Mar 27“You have my This sparkling story, full of warmth, humor, and endearing characters (human and otherwise), will be flying off the shelves. A perfect read-aloud and a delightful debut.” —Katherine Applegate, #1 New York Times bestselling and Newbery Medal-winning author of The One and Only Ivan
“For every nature lover who ever wanted to scoop up a wild thing and bring it home.” —Rosanne Parry, New York Times bestselling author of A Wolf Called Wander
Friendships come in all (scaly, furry, slimy, hairy) shapes and sizes. A fast-paced, funny, and heartwarming middle grade debut about a girl and the animals she cares for, perfect for fans of Rosanne Parry, Katherine Applegate, and Carl Hiassen. Features black-and-white spot art and decorations by Caldecott Honor artist Brian Lies.
Eleven-year-old Billie Rae lives with her dad at Swumperland, an ecotour business in the Florida Everglades. Billie Rae is in charge of the petting zoo, where she keeps careful watch over her animals. There’s Ziggy, an enormous and lonely python, Greta the cantankerous turtle, and Slipper, an enigmatic pig frog. And Billie Rae has a new animal on the way—an addition to the petting zoo that she hopes will distract her from her disastrous last day of school and her mom’s absence.
Bernard is a lizard, freshly hatched into the terrarium Billie Rae has prepared for the new and exotic arrival. Billie Rae doesn’t know Bernard is there, but Ziggy the python, eager for a friend, notices him immediately. As Bernard explores the comforts of "In Here" with the coaching of Ziggy, the new resident is dropped into Bernard's tank. Aurelia doesn’t like the petting zoo one bit. She remembers what it’s like to be wild, and she wants out.
Allison Bell’s debut novel explores evergreen middle grade themes of family, friendship, empathy, responsibility, and independence. The chapters rotate between perspectives—Bernard (the lizard), Ziggy (the python), and Billie Rae (the human)—and the narrator often speaks to the reader directly. The pitch-perfect middle grade voice, short chapters, and surprising, action-packed, and often humorous plot makes this a compulsively readable novel and an excellent choice for classroom and family read-alouds. For readers who love Hoot by Carl Hiassen, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate, and A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry.
“For every nature lover who ever wanted to scoop up a wild thing and bring it home.” —Rosanne Parry, New York Times bestselling author of A Wolf Called Wander
Friendships come in all (scaly, furry, slimy, hairy) shapes and sizes. A fast-paced, funny, and heartwarming middle grade debut about a girl and the animals she cares for, perfect for fans of Rosanne Parry, Katherine Applegate, and Carl Hiassen. Features black-and-white spot art and decorations by Caldecott Honor artist Brian Lies.
Eleven-year-old Billie Rae lives with her dad at Swumperland, an ecotour business in the Florida Everglades. Billie Rae is in charge of the petting zoo, where she keeps careful watch over her animals. There’s Ziggy, an enormous and lonely python, Greta the cantankerous turtle, and Slipper, an enigmatic pig frog. And Billie Rae has a new animal on the way—an addition to the petting zoo that she hopes will distract her from her disastrous last day of school and her mom’s absence.
Bernard is a lizard, freshly hatched into the terrarium Billie Rae has prepared for the new and exotic arrival. Billie Rae doesn’t know Bernard is there, but Ziggy the python, eager for a friend, notices him immediately. As Bernard explores the comforts of "In Here" with the coaching of Ziggy, the new resident is dropped into Bernard's tank. Aurelia doesn’t like the petting zoo one bit. She remembers what it’s like to be wild, and she wants out.
Allison Bell’s debut novel explores evergreen middle grade themes of family, friendship, empathy, responsibility, and independence. The chapters rotate between perspectives—Bernard (the lizard), Ziggy (the python), and Billie Rae (the human)—and the narrator often speaks to the reader directly. The pitch-perfect middle grade voice, short chapters, and surprising, action-packed, and often humorous plot makes this a compulsively readable novel and an excellent choice for classroom and family read-alouds. For readers who love Hoot by Carl Hiassen, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate, and A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry.
240 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication March 2, 2027
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
If you’d told me I’d be sobbing over a book about reptiles and amphibians in the Florida swamps, I wouldn’t have believed you– but here we are. Told from the perspective of eleven year old Billie Rae and two of the animals in her care, Bell nails the voices of these creatures stuck in cages all day at a southern petting zoo. As Billie Rae grapples with family and the complicated way it affects her everyday life, the animals deal with being listless and lonely in captivity. One little lizard changes everything, showing that even the smallest of friends can make the biggest difference.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Hatched
I really enjoyed this book. At times, it was a lot sadder than I thought it would be. The isolation of various characters was very hard to read. The imagery and unique text formatting were unexpected and intriguing. I recommend this book
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Hatched
I really enjoyed this book. At times, it was a lot sadder than I thought it would be. The isolation of various characters was very hard to read. The imagery and unique text formatting were unexpected and intriguing. I recommend this book
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books/Greenwillow Books for allowing me to read this ARC.
To start I want to state that I have been an avid animal lover my whole life. When I read this book I tried to call out to the 11/12 year old me to see if I would love this or if there were too many glaring inaccuracies. I was the kid who would correct you at 5, I just really loved animals.
This book has some big themes around feeling alone and that everything is your fault (its not) and I feel we need more children's books that focus on a parent leaving and how it feels to try and fill that void.
The animal characters were great and each had their own personalities. Our main human character was a strong adventurous girl and she was not afraid to get her hands dirty. Reminded me of myself, an artist, an animal lover and growing up in the wild Florida! (Honestly its funny I chose to read this book about Florida while my AC is out in the Florida heat watching the Anoles running around outside.)
There were a few animal inconsistencies that I do hope are resolved prior to release, mainly the talk of Ziggy the Python blinking his inner eyelids. Snakes have no eyelids but an eye cap that is removed upon shedding. I feel like 11 year old me would have picked up on this.
Other then the above, the message is clear. Wild animals need to stay wild, Florida does have a big issue with invasive species and Bob Ross is just awesome.
To start I want to state that I have been an avid animal lover my whole life. When I read this book I tried to call out to the 11/12 year old me to see if I would love this or if there were too many glaring inaccuracies. I was the kid who would correct you at 5, I just really loved animals.
This book has some big themes around feeling alone and that everything is your fault (its not) and I feel we need more children's books that focus on a parent leaving and how it feels to try and fill that void.
The animal characters were great and each had their own personalities. Our main human character was a strong adventurous girl and she was not afraid to get her hands dirty. Reminded me of myself, an artist, an animal lover and growing up in the wild Florida! (Honestly its funny I chose to read this book about Florida while my AC is out in the Florida heat watching the Anoles running around outside.)
There were a few animal inconsistencies that I do hope are resolved prior to release, mainly the talk of Ziggy the Python blinking his inner eyelids. Snakes have no eyelids but an eye cap that is removed upon shedding. I feel like 11 year old me would have picked up on this.
Other then the above, the message is clear. Wild animals need to stay wild, Florida does have a big issue with invasive species and Bob Ross is just awesome.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews