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Climb
Join Hetty, a little elephant, determined to prove her worth in a world that's not built for her to thrive. Bestselling author Hannah Peckham brings you a beautiful story celebrating difference and friendship."Climb is a beautifully illustrated book with a lovely message about loving yourself as you are and embracing our differences and own unique talents" The experts at Dr Gummer's Good Play Guide 'Climb is a simple story which will help children celebrate difference and develop positive attitudes about their talents. I've seen first-hand how children can struggle with dyslexia, and lose heart if we're not careful. Every child brings something unique to the this book will help children to develop character and resilience, and celebrate their uniqueness.' Julian Grenier Director of East London Research School
- GenresChildrensPicture Books
Paperback
Published November 18, 2021
1 person is currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Hannah Peckham
6 books6 followersWhen she is not writing inspiring children’s stories, Hannah Peckham is a person-centred counsellor and voice over artist. She works in schools and youth centres counselling young people, and she is passionate about encouraging children to develop emotional literacy at an early age.
Hannah lives in the Sussex countryside with her husband, son and two dogs.
Hannah lives in the Sussex countryside with her husband, son and two dogs.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
September 19, 2024
I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.
Climb is an adorable children's rhyming picture book about Hetty; a small elephant who longs to be able to climb trees like her friends. Hetty has determination and the support of her friends to try to learn how to climb, but being an elephant, she's just not made for climbing trees like them. Just before the climbing competition, Hetty realises that everyone is different and so are their strengths and talents. The very next day, Hetty saves the day as a forest fire burns through the jungle. This was a cute story with a great moral for children to encourage them to be who they are, embrace their uniqueness, and love themselves. The back of the book has some activities to boost self-esteem for them to do, too.
Climb is an adorable children's rhyming picture book about Hetty; a small elephant who longs to be able to climb trees like her friends. Hetty has determination and the support of her friends to try to learn how to climb, but being an elephant, she's just not made for climbing trees like them. Just before the climbing competition, Hetty realises that everyone is different and so are their strengths and talents. The very next day, Hetty saves the day as a forest fire burns through the jungle. This was a cute story with a great moral for children to encourage them to be who they are, embrace their uniqueness, and love themselves. The back of the book has some activities to boost self-esteem for them to do, too.
June 29, 2024
Hannah Peckham’s Climb is the sort of book that I appreciate, despite it being something I feel I’ve heard over and over and over again in so many different scenarios and circumstances. Perhaps that is simply what we are left with when one writes a children’s book about such a well-known moral lesson: that we cannot measure everyone’s intelligence, talents, and capabilities by the same yardstick.
Put simply: elephants cannot climb trees, so to measure their worth solely through that metric does everyone a disservice.
If this is a lesson you are trying to impart on your children or your students, by all means pick up Climb. The story is cute, it imparts the message in a beautiful way, and the artwork is fun and engaging for young readers.
Does Climb truly stand out immeasurably in the grand scheme of things? Not really. But it does accomplish what it sets out to.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Put simply: elephants cannot climb trees, so to measure their worth solely through that metric does everyone a disservice.
If this is a lesson you are trying to impart on your children or your students, by all means pick up Climb. The story is cute, it imparts the message in a beautiful way, and the artwork is fun and engaging for young readers.
Does Climb truly stand out immeasurably in the grand scheme of things? Not really. But it does accomplish what it sets out to.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
August 18, 2024
Climb by Hannah Peckham
⭐5 Fantastic Stars
Climb is a sweet book with an important message for our children, especially the most insecure ones.
Climb tells the story of the little elephant Hetty who wanted to prove that elephants, if they wanted to, could also climb trees. With the help of her friends, Hetty realised that we don't all have the same abilities, aspirations and strengths, and that we're probably destined to do something different if we know how to wait for the right moment.
"We all are good at something, elephant, fish, bird, or bee."
🐘Characters: Hetty, the brave and fearless elephant.
🐘Illustrations: Beautiful bright colours and creative landscapes
🐘Language: rhyming book, easy to understand. Catchy and melodic.
🐘Reading Experience: the questions at the end of the book for us to work on with our child are fantastic and make the story very dynamic, while at the same time offering tools for parents to work on the differences and virtues of their little ones.
⭐5 Fantastic Stars
Climb is a sweet book with an important message for our children, especially the most insecure ones.
Climb tells the story of the little elephant Hetty who wanted to prove that elephants, if they wanted to, could also climb trees. With the help of her friends, Hetty realised that we don't all have the same abilities, aspirations and strengths, and that we're probably destined to do something different if we know how to wait for the right moment.
"We all are good at something, elephant, fish, bird, or bee."
🐘Characters: Hetty, the brave and fearless elephant.
🐘Illustrations: Beautiful bright colours and creative landscapes
🐘Language: rhyming book, easy to understand. Catchy and melodic.
🐘Reading Experience: the questions at the end of the book for us to work on with our child are fantastic and make the story very dynamic, while at the same time offering tools for parents to work on the differences and virtues of their little ones.
August 24, 2024
The dedication in this book tells it all: To the little girl who questioned her worth because of her difference and anyone who found themselves doing the same. Hetty is an elephant cub who keeps trying to find her thing that she's good at. She struggles through the whole story to try to climb and she just can't do it. Until she realizes that she doesn't have to be like everyone else and everyone has things they are good at. This story has such a great message for little ones and the illustrations are so sweet.
Thank you for a complementary ARC of this book from NetGalley on behalf of the author and the publisher.
Thank you for a complementary ARC of this book from NetGalley on behalf of the author and the publisher.
July 13, 2024
This book goes a bit literal on the quote “if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Except it’s not a fish, it’s an elephant. Still a tree, though. Feels a bit silly to change one aspect of the analogy and keep the other, but I digress.
Hetty the elephant admires the heroes of the forest: the monkeys, the real pro tree-climbers. But she’s never even placed in the rankings. But this is her year. She trains and trains and…can’t climb. But perhaps she has other skills that could be of value….
I think my main problem with this book is that it’s too harpy. There’s no show, just tell. And, I mean, sometimes it’s really “hit the nail on the head” tell, like the line “you don’t know someone’s world until you walk within their shoes.” And “each of them learned a valuable life lesson.”
I appreciate the effort of telling the story in rhyme, but knew that wasn’t enough for my kid. Typically, a rhyming book hasher very excited. But she just didn’t react much to this one. I think, by the time anything significant happened, she’d lost interest. Not a great start.
I wasn’t a fan of the lumpy animals, as an art style. I don’t deman realism in picture books, of course, but this style feels more…Precious Moments? A bit too twee. And there’s quite a bit of whitespace backgrounds, which makes this jungle feel rather…deforested. Hetty won’t have to worry about tree climbing, if this keeps up.
So, overall, this book gets a 3-star. Which, in my rating, means I wouldn’t think to recommend it to someone, but if someone came up to me and asked if it’s a good book, I wouldn’t chase them away from the choice. It’s just…kinda there. A random library pickup kind of book. :/
Advanced reader copy provided by the publisher.
Hetty the elephant admires the heroes of the forest: the monkeys, the real pro tree-climbers. But she’s never even placed in the rankings. But this is her year. She trains and trains and…can’t climb. But perhaps she has other skills that could be of value….
I think my main problem with this book is that it’s too harpy. There’s no show, just tell. And, I mean, sometimes it’s really “hit the nail on the head” tell, like the line “you don’t know someone’s world until you walk within their shoes.” And “each of them learned a valuable life lesson.”
I appreciate the effort of telling the story in rhyme, but knew that wasn’t enough for my kid. Typically, a rhyming book hasher very excited. But she just didn’t react much to this one. I think, by the time anything significant happened, she’d lost interest. Not a great start.
I wasn’t a fan of the lumpy animals, as an art style. I don’t deman realism in picture books, of course, but this style feels more…Precious Moments? A bit too twee. And there’s quite a bit of whitespace backgrounds, which makes this jungle feel rather…deforested. Hetty won’t have to worry about tree climbing, if this keeps up.
So, overall, this book gets a 3-star. Which, in my rating, means I wouldn’t think to recommend it to someone, but if someone came up to me and asked if it’s a good book, I wouldn’t chase them away from the choice. It’s just…kinda there. A random library pickup kind of book. :/
Advanced reader copy provided by the publisher.
March 13, 2022
Climb is a great story about an elephant named Hetty who decides she has to prove her worth by showing she can climb a tree in the forest but she gets disheartened when she can't until she learns an important lesson.
This is a brilliant book to show that we are all unique with our own talents and don't have to compare ourselves to others to fit in or be liked. It's great how we get to see Hetty's feelings and emotions being discussed openly in the book as it helps the children understand why Hetty feels the way she does and makes it more relatable for them.
The children really wanted Hetty to succeed in her challenge but it was nice for them to see that things don't always go to plan and when I asked what their favourite part of the book was at the end they all decided it was the end and what Hetty had learnt.
The illustrations are beautiful with lots of fun forest themed pages. The children loved seeing all of the animals that lived in the environment and it was nice to see some more unusual animals as they'd not all seen those before. I love how we get to see each of the animals emotions so well in the illustrations as it helps the children understand how they feel and there's lots of things to talk about with the children from the pictures.
This is a fantastic story with such cute characters. We love Hetty and her friends in this heartwarming story which shows we all have our talents but they're not always the same!
This is a brilliant book to show that we are all unique with our own talents and don't have to compare ourselves to others to fit in or be liked. It's great how we get to see Hetty's feelings and emotions being discussed openly in the book as it helps the children understand why Hetty feels the way she does and makes it more relatable for them.
The children really wanted Hetty to succeed in her challenge but it was nice for them to see that things don't always go to plan and when I asked what their favourite part of the book was at the end they all decided it was the end and what Hetty had learnt.
The illustrations are beautiful with lots of fun forest themed pages. The children loved seeing all of the animals that lived in the environment and it was nice to see some more unusual animals as they'd not all seen those before. I love how we get to see each of the animals emotions so well in the illustrations as it helps the children understand how they feel and there's lots of things to talk about with the children from the pictures.
This is a fantastic story with such cute characters. We love Hetty and her friends in this heartwarming story which shows we all have our talents but they're not always the same!
June 28, 2024
Hetty's story was so adorable and inspiring! This book perfectly demonstrated the message that everyone is different and everyone has their own unique strengths. But most importantly, that everyone matters no matter their strengths or differences. Don't get me wrong, there are a bunch of books out there just like this one, that convey the exact same message. However, Hetty's story was different. It brought a freshness to the world of kids' books.
All of that greatness was perfectly complemented with the impressive illustrations. The details were flawless, and the pictures definitely helped to engage me even further. This will work really well for the young kids reading this.
The story was spectacular, like I said, but I had one little issue with it. I think that, for a kids' book, some of the words/terms were a bit advanced for their reading level, even if they are reading with their parents/guardians. An example of this would be page 29 with "deforestation division". Things like this will go right over young readers' heads. Not that parents/guardians can't explain to confused kids, it just makes for a less enjoyable reading experience.
Lastly, I want to give credit for the ending. The worksheets (and potential coloring pages!) in the back of the book were perfect for kids to apply the morals from Hetty's story to their own lives. The questions are simple yet effective, and makes for a more interactive and personal reading experience.
Bravo!
All of that greatness was perfectly complemented with the impressive illustrations. The details were flawless, and the pictures definitely helped to engage me even further. This will work really well for the young kids reading this.
The story was spectacular, like I said, but I had one little issue with it. I think that, for a kids' book, some of the words/terms were a bit advanced for their reading level, even if they are reading with their parents/guardians. An example of this would be page 29 with "deforestation division". Things like this will go right over young readers' heads. Not that parents/guardians can't explain to confused kids, it just makes for a less enjoyable reading experience.
Lastly, I want to give credit for the ending. The worksheets (and potential coloring pages!) in the back of the book were perfect for kids to apply the morals from Hetty's story to their own lives. The questions are simple yet effective, and makes for a more interactive and personal reading experience.
Bravo!
July 4, 2024
The story of Climb by Hannah Peckham is about celebrating our unique gifts. Hetty's ears were floppy. Unlike all of her forest friends, she couldn't climb trees. As a result, she felt inferior and sad. She was unable to climb the ancestral tree. Their long, loose arms made them nimble. Although she was kind, fun, and strong, Hetty's worth was overlooked. There was one thing she had that the others lacked, and that was her ability to blow large amounts of water out of her trunk. Despite her determination to climb the ancient tree, she was defeated every day in training. One day Hetty sat at the watering hole thinking. While she may not be able to climb, she is strong, brave, and loyal. We all have different talents. About that time, the rainforest friends began to smell something different. It was a fire! She knew what she had to do, "Get water!" and she did. The rest of the group did not move. Hetty used her trunk to fight the flames on that day. Her courage knew no bounds. That day, every animal learned a valuable lesson.
July 1, 2024
"We all are good at something, elephant, fish, bird, or bee."
This was exactly as adorable and uplifting as I'd hoped it would be. Poor Hetty just wants to climb a tree like the rest of her friends, but despite her toughest attempts she can't do it! However, Hetty has her own special talent that makes her realize she has worth beyond being able to do what others can.
There are, of course, tons of children's books with this same message -- but it's something all of us need a reminder of from time to time. I loved the poetic pace, adorable illustrations, and bonus activity pages in the back of the book! ♥
(Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with an early free copy in exchange for an honest review.)
This was exactly as adorable and uplifting as I'd hoped it would be. Poor Hetty just wants to climb a tree like the rest of her friends, but despite her toughest attempts she can't do it! However, Hetty has her own special talent that makes her realize she has worth beyond being able to do what others can.
There are, of course, tons of children's books with this same message -- but it's something all of us need a reminder of from time to time. I loved the poetic pace, adorable illustrations, and bonus activity pages in the back of the book! ♥
(Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with an early free copy in exchange for an honest review.)
July 2, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley, Hannah Peckham, and Rosen Publishing Group for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This book has a stunning message to share. It teaches children and parents that everyone can achieve different things based on their own skillset. It reminded me of all those multiple choice exams in school and how some students (myself included) really struggled with them.
I read Climb with my daughter, who is a bit young for longer stories, but she was captivated by the beautiful illustrations. This is definitely a book I want to add to my daughter's library.
This book has a stunning message to share. It teaches children and parents that everyone can achieve different things based on their own skillset. It reminded me of all those multiple choice exams in school and how some students (myself included) really struggled with them.
I read Climb with my daughter, who is a bit young for longer stories, but she was captivated by the beautiful illustrations. This is definitely a book I want to add to my daughter's library.
June 29, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! This book was very well written and enjoyable. It teaches children to celebrate their differences, and to stop comparing themselves to others because they are special and amazing in their own way. This book is about an elephant who is different from the other animals around her because she can’t climb trees, but when something happens can she step up and do what’s right using her own special skill sets? This is a great picture book!
July 1, 2024
The illustrations in this book are so stinking cute!! This is a rhyming book, but I kind of feel like the rhyming takes away from it because the words had to be arranged differently for them to be rhyming. It just didn't feel like an easy smooth read, more like kind of jagged. It had a good story of our individual talents, but choppy reading. L really like the questions at the end of the book, they should generate some really good conversations withe the reader and the listener. Thanks to Netgalley and Rosen Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.
July 7, 2024
Adorable book with an important message. Essential reading for any young person. Hetty the elephant feels lesser because she can’t climb, during the story she learns that everyone has different strengths and it’s silly to judge everyone by the same yard stick.
Perfect story time book with adorable illustrations and even has a worksheets at the back to help young readers identify their own unique talents. Highly recommend!
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own
Perfect story time book with adorable illustrations and even has a worksheets at the back to help young readers identify their own unique talents. Highly recommend!
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own
July 10, 2024
Climb is a super cute children's picture book about a young elephant, who doesn't feel much self-worth because she can't climb trees. I thought the illustrations and the message of the story were very well done. There were times that the prose seemed a little clunky & overly long to me, but I was still very invested in Hetty's story. I loved her friends and they way they supported her in finding what Hetty was good at.
Thanks to NetGalley, Hannah Peckham, and Rosen Publishing for the chance to read and review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thanks to NetGalley, Hannah Peckham, and Rosen Publishing for the chance to read and review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.
July 28, 2024
𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗠𝗕 was a lovely read and the message that it imparts to young readers, is a truly special one. Fitting in is never easy and the need to do so starts at a young age. This book tells the story of an elephant that feels like a failure because they cannot fit into someone else’s shoes (metaphorically speaking). With its lovely illustration it teaches us that we all have unique qualities that make us special. This is a very important message and a lovely way to impart it. 𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗠𝗕 Is a lovely addition to any personal or classroom library.
June 26, 2024
A very cute little book about the importance of embracing what you do well and not comparing yourself to others.
There is an interesting rhyme scheme to the book, where in the beginning only the second and fourth lines rhyme. By the end, every line rhymes.
The message of the book is fantastic, the layout makes it easy to read, and the pictures are adorable. Truly, a good book for little ones.
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.
There is an interesting rhyme scheme to the book, where in the beginning only the second and fourth lines rhyme. By the end, every line rhymes.
The message of the book is fantastic, the layout makes it easy to read, and the pictures are adorable. Truly, a good book for little ones.
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.
June 28, 2024
A very cute children’s book about finding the right place for yourself in this crazy, crazy world. You may think that you meant to one thing, but the universe has other plants for you and maybe another job or location is really where you’re meant to be. I think we’ve all been Hetty at one time or another- I know I have!
I read this book as an ARC from NetGallery. I read this book to my three-year-old son, and he really enjoyed the pictures!
I read this book as an ARC from NetGallery. I read this book to my three-year-old son, and he really enjoyed the pictures!
August 4, 2024
2.5 stars
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Rosen Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review this book.
The message of this book is great, but I feel like the journey to get it was a bit rocky and not in the good sense. I also feel like the illustrations could be improved and maybe add a little bit of humour to the book.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Rosen Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review this book.
The message of this book is great, but I feel like the journey to get it was a bit rocky and not in the good sense. I also feel like the illustrations could be improved and maybe add a little bit of humour to the book.
July 9, 2024
Beautiful story. Beautiful illustrations. Beautiful message.
Hetty melted my heart 🩶
I thought the story was nice and the rhyming flowed well.
The biggest standout was Hetty internally realising her self-worth even before the fire. It's a shame it took the fire for her to finally feel accepted but the book is still lovely.
Hetty melted my heart 🩶
I thought the story was nice and the rhyming flowed well.
The biggest standout was Hetty internally realising her self-worth even before the fire. It's a shame it took the fire for her to finally feel accepted but the book is still lovely.
July 12, 2024
This was an adorable story about an elephant who wants to climb a tree. Later she learns that everyone has their own set of skills and we shouldn't judge everyone based on a single thing. It rhymes, the pictures are adorable, and it has a wonderful message of self-acceptance. One of my favorite picture books that I've read recently.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 27, 2025
This is a Children's book that I read to my twin boys. The wording/rhyming in this book was too much in this book because there were parts of this book that did not flow easy and were hard to read. I did enjoyed the message in this book, and the pictures in the book are so cute. I received an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion about the book like all my reviews are.
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