This was so cute! And surprisingly deep.
I adored the artwork - the colours are so beautiful and match the story perfectly - and loved the story. It's heart-warming and so hopeful and encouraging! A perfect read for anyone who might feel overwhelmed by negative emotions, kids and adults alike.

Another middle grade graphic novel with beautiful art - especially loved the rendition of the forest - gorgeous! It also gets pretty deep there for a bit - addresses loss of a parent, repression, anger, avoidant behaviour - among other things - so pretty heavy for a middle grade read. Would recommend!

First finished: 15dec2018
Source: Netgalley eArc

This was a sweet little book with a message that, though sometimes a bit too heavyhanded, was extremely important. The characters were geniune and Willow's experience with her mother dying was honestly presented.
The art was my favorite part of the book, with the gorgeous colors and style and the extremely realistically written dog (my own dog makes those exact expressions, I swear!)
Overall, a sweet paced fantasy perfect for fans of Katie O'Neill or Studio Ghibli.

What a very human, thoughtful piece of work. Willow is working on managing her big feelings. Her feelings get represented as monsters and they make her lash out at her loved ones and say things that she doesn’t believe in her heart, but make her feel better for that moment of release... we’ve all been there, haven’t we? Once she says them she doesn’t actually feel better...heaps of guilt and regret only make her feel worse.

Willow is managing not fitting in at school, the loss of her mother, the tensions of her home relationships dealing with grief, and she’s trying to find her footing amidst it all by pushing her feelings away. She finds the beginnings of some footing through a quirky friendship in the woods (with Pilu!) that allows her to come through some of her feelings instead of push them down.. or explode. This book felt very relatable. It felt like it was made with an open heart, and the art matched in the best way.

It’s SO hard to manage how we feel, and I think this graphic novel captured how we struggle and what some forms of working through it look like——but with watercolor cute naturey melancholy vibes. This one was that perfect blend of both sweet and heavy and I’m glad it exists. My advice is to read it when it comes out and enjoy the reminders it provides.

This book did a wonderful job tackling hard to talk about issues with children. The illustrations were beautiful.

First of all, the art and illustrations are beautiful. There's no doubt that this is a beautiful graphic novel that every type of reader can enjoy. I've read my fair share of graphic novels and books that discuss mental health, so believe me when I say that this story is AMAZING for kids and young people. It's about family, grief, loss, pain and mental health -- all of that is dealt with in a very sweet way.

Willow is a very relatable character and her journey with Pilu and Chicory is really interesting. I am really excited to reread this in print. Definitely recommend it to everyone who enjoys a cute, quick, and meaningful story.

More than anything, I really just feel like I need to say that I LOVED THIS GRAPHIC NOVEL. Mental health isn't often addressed in such a gentle, easy to understand way, and Pilu did it in way that feels honest without being cliche or feeling like an afternoon special. The illustrations mirror the sentiments beautifully, and I felt like I was walking through the woods with an old friend. I will, without hesitation, be ordering Pilu of the Woods for our library. 5/5, will be reading again.

Thank you, NetGalley for the preview of this graphic novel.

Pilu of the Woods is about Willow - a girl who lost her mother recently and how she grows to deal with her inner monsters. The illustrations were oh-so-beautiful and I kept getting distracted from the plot because of all the illustrations. All I wanted to do was sit and stare at those pretty trees and mushrooms.

This book was so cute! The illustrations are to die for - they were my favorite part! This story deals with a lot. Grief, loss, friendship – all great themes, especially when they are geared towards this younger age dynamic. It's definitely a book you need to pick up.

I thought this was adorable - it was terribly bittersweet and sappy but the premise was great. A little girl deals with grief and in the process learns how to handle her internal monsters.

A touching story about friendship, loss, and coping with big feelings. The illustrations are delightful, and the story stays with you after you turn the last page. Would recommend!

The cover was irresistible, and the first description I read compared this to Hilda, so really there was no question I'd be interested. The interior was stunningly charming, and visually reminded me a bit of Kevin Henkes crossed with Vera Brosgol. The artwork is just gorgeous.

The story follows Willow, an angry and lonely girl who struggles with her strong emotions. Her relationship with her mom is set up at the beginning and then... the reader knows something happens, but doesn't really find out what until the end. In the meantime it's clear Willow isn't popular at school and a fight with her sister sends Willow to the woods - a refuge where she spends a lot of time with her parents. Here she meets a wood sprite and grapples with the cutest, fiercest little monster emotions known to man. If my own anger was this adorable it might be easier to deal with.

The flow of the story is occasionally broken by memory sequences, and the little monster panels floating along in the background. Once I figured out exactly what the monster emotions were, I really liked their message. As a bonus: delightful fungi facts are sprinkled throughout the story. And of course, the touching family bits pulled at the heartstrings.

I don't know what I was expecting of this book, but this wasn't it. Ha! I loved the comic book vibe and the pictures were simple yet intricately done. The storyline was a little lengthy but thoughtfully played out. I enjoyed seeing the relationship between Pilu and Willow play out.

I really like the art style, but while I get that this is children's fiction and is meant to be kinda educational, it just felt a bit forced

This pool was phenomenal. A wonderful depiction of dealing with tough feelings and coming to peace with them. I will definitely be buying at least one for my library. Very highly recommend!

Willow is a young girl full of anger that she is trying to keep bottled up inside only to lash out at those she loves and breaks a promise that that is very close to her heart. I think this is a great book for children to understand how holding in their emotions will only make you feel worse and make you lash out even more, You even learn a little botany along the way.

I would recommend this book.

First up thank you for allowing me to read this one, but sorry, I stranded at page 40-ish. I just didn't particularly like the characters (they were all so annoying), though I did like our green woodlandspirit a bit. The art was fantastic, and it is only because of that that I kept reading on, in the hopes it would get better.

Pilu of the Woods is a beautiful and somewhat melancholic book about a girl named Willow, whose inner monsters make her act sometimes like a little brat. When she runs off to the forest, she meets a lost girl name Pilu and ends up helping her find her way home. They both have run away home and the circumstances are told from the kids' perspective and how they try to help one another. But the little monsters may not be monsters at all and the girls learn about that and many other things along their way. The comic is very cute and thoughtful and you end up learning things about nature, flowers and fungi too, which was really nice and didn't feel superimposed at all. The story flow is wonderful, well paced and deep in meaning. Especially the situation with the mother at end was a surprise and at the same time handled with warmth.

The art is perfect, clear and the colors are warm. The line art is round and simple and very very cute, but the whole package still conveys everything, even the sad parts, extremely well. The panels are clear and pretty - very easy to follow too, which makes this an awesome kids' comic. This is a must for kids, since it teaches without preaching and highlights self-discovery. Pilu of the Woods is a meaningful and not just your everyday comic, but much more. I really have to have this in my library!

*thank you to Netgalley and Oni Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*

4 stars.

What a great little story this is. It was beautifully illustrated and had a rather sad yet important message to it. It's a story of loss of a family member, a mother and the emotions that causes people to feel. The story is told from Willow, the youngest daughters point of view. It's emotional but told in a way that doesn't make it too dark and heavy. It's a story about feelings aswell as friendship and how emotions can get so big sometimes that they do and can come out in a physical way. It was beautifully told and easy to follow. Definitely one to pick up and read.

Willow is a tween girl who is bullied at school for being a "wuss" and crying alone in the bathroom. One day, after a big fight with her older sister (who is partially raising her), Willow wanders around in the woods near her house and finds...Pilu the tree spirit! She and Pilu share natural curiosity, sensitive hearts, and angry outbursts (possibly caused by childhood trauma). The illustrations and colouring is gorgeous and will be very appealing to kids. This book also includes educational moments, such as how mushrooms grow and how to identify trees by their leaves. Although the story line is light, slow, and beautiful, there are serious themes of mental health, difficult family dynamics, grief, and preserving the environment.

Perfect for fans of The Sand Warrior, Hilda and the Troll, and slow, quiet mangas.