The Growly Books: Winter

by Philip Ulrich, Annie Barnett (Illustrator)

With autumn settling over the cliffs of Mount Hegel, the bears of Haven are finally beginning to return to life as normal—as normal as it can be, with Growly and C.J. back from beyond The Precipice. But a blazing fire out on the Great River and a mysterious stranger on a desperate mission suddenly change everything. As winter approaches and a daring plan forms, Growly and his friends will realize that their world is about to change forever, and that sometimes risking all for someone else is the way that you find home.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction

251 pages, Paperback

Published November 20, 2020

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

[Taylor Livengood · Rating 3 out of 5]

(This book contained a lot more typos than I remember in all the previous books.)
However, it's such a sweet story. The nostalgia attached to all the characters, the whimsical tone... it reminds me of everything I loved about the series when I read it so long ago.
Not the best book ever, but worth the read. It makes for a lovely read-aloud.

[Stacy Kooker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 3 books in the series were great and my boys loved the adventure and mountain and ocean setting. I found this book hard to read aloud but they make excellent chapter books for kiddos who are maybe a bit more sensitive but still want the thrill of an adventure.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 9 year old son and I have loved reading this series together. However, this book was more difficult to follow. Multiple times, my son said "wait, I don't get it." Transitions were unclear, and we would both be a bit confused about what was happening when there was a jump between characters, or time jumped forward a bit, etc. This wasn't a problem in the other books.

We're still eagerly awaiting the next book, but hope that it's a bit clearer as the ones before "Winter" we're.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

We’ve read this whole series and have loved them, but between the last book and this one, it looks like they decided to edit themselves, which I think was definitely a mistake. The previous books, which had a different editor, flowed much better. The story made more sense and the transitions were smooth. This book was very clunky to read aloud to my kids. We still love the world and the characters, but I wish they’d kept the editor!

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice continuation of the Growly storyline and I look forward to reading the next one aloud to my 8yo, who has thoroughly enjoyed all of them. Definitely recommend this series as a read aloud for ages 6-10

[Benje · Rating 2 out of 5]

okay.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

We’ve enjoyed this whole series because of the storytelling and world-building. However, the writing was not amazing. Very sweet.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. A little harder to follow than the others in the series (several storylines going at once), but still enjoyable.

[EM · Rating 3 out of 5]

The content of story is wonderful. Our family loves the Growly series. This book desperately needs an editor.

[Maya Drouillard]

So good!!

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, I absolutely love this series. It’s definitely way under my reading level, but it’s sort of comfort book. I have mixed feelings about this addition to the series. I mean, it’s amazing to know Merridy and CJ end up happy, and that Chippy and Anylee are reunited, but I thought the endings of Morning or Haven were perfect. Since they ended on a Cliff hanger, I’m excited to see what happens in the next book though.


Sorry that was the longest review I’ve ever written.