This children’s story was hilarious, impactful, and thematically strong! Front of the line for teachers of young children.

Love the shape of this book that FEELS like the elevator they are riding up, up, UP to a birthday celebration like no other! The excitement and anticipation builds with each page turn as does the sense of community and connection. Recommended!

Wonderful children's book. This book is good to teach about community and diversity. The characters are lovable and the story is relatable to children.

This is a wonderful picture book that would be a welcome addition to any bookshelf from family, schools and public libraries. Sophie and her dad live in an apartment building (or flat) on the first floor. When they get an invitation to a party, they need to "Go Up" to the tenth floor. After making cookies to take, they get in the elevator (lift) and push the button. The elevator stops at each floor as more party goers get one. Not only are they ethnically diverse, but they have various interests, and are all different ages. My grandson loved seeing all the different clothes that my granddaughter kept calling costumes. This was a fun-loving group hoping that the elevator would take them all up. It was a bit like a clown car with over 20 people, a couple of pets, plates and dishes of food and even some instruments. I loved the illustrations and had to keep turning back the page as my grandson wasn't finished looking at the pictures yet. There is a lot of detail in each picture and we loved them all. We had just read another book about community, so we compared this book to his neighbourhood, which was a lot of fun. This is a great book for family libraries, classrooms, school and public libraries.

An adorable - light hearted - easy read. Entertaining for children. Even though it wasn't intended for my age group (20+) I enjoyed the reading experience and would recommend to someone with children.

My Thoughts
As Sophie and her dad take the elevator from the first floor to the tenth floor to a birthday party, they are joined by others on each floor. Each new person or group that joins them is unique. The friendship and affection between them is obvious and a thrill to see through both text and art.

This book, simply said, is a book that promotes unity in diversity, and Sherry Lee does it super sweetly. In addition, I love Charlene Chua’s bright, colorful illustrations full of cheer and details that make it a fun I-Spy-type of book.

Children will enjoy looking for those hidden details (for example, the floor number is uniquely displayed on each different floor) and figuring out what floor is next and who will enter the elevator there. It is perfectly written and illustrated for the intended audience to help them learn while having fun; though I know I enjoyed playing the ‘looking-at-the-details’ game too – and there is so much more in the details in this book!

In Summary
A cute book celebrating diversity and inclusivity in an adorable and fun way, with lots of hidden learning opportunities!

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Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the digital ARC of the book; these are my honest opinions after reading the book.

There's not much of a plot to this book. The whole thing is just listing the people who get into the elevator. There's no conflict, nothing to solve. They get into the elevator and go to the party. The point seems to be that while they are all different, they all have the same goal. Diversity for the very young.

This was a wonderful book! We absolutely loved the story it told and the surprise at the end. The illustrations are great and really but;d the crazy feeling about how cramped it is in the lift. The story is fun and really easy to get excited about, for little ones. Ada really enjoyed it and liked all the dogs in the lift!

This is a fantastic storytime book. Sophie and her dad are headed to a party on the 10th floor of their building. At each floor, the doors open to let more people onto the elevator. Will they all fit!? Lots of repetition and engaging illustrations with their own visual narrative. I particularly enjoyed the way it depicted them in between floors with the numbers printed on the elevator shaft. The characters are all unique and colorful and happy to see their neighbors. Kids will wish they could live in this apartment too.

A simple story well executed. It's a fun and engaging book about community. I appreciate the diverse characters subtly and respectfully weaved into the story. The detail in the illustrations crescendo with the addition of more and more people in the elevator, and that really enhances the suspense. Will everybody make it to the party on the 10th floor?

Going Up! is a fun and inclusive story about a girl and her dad who have been invited to a birthday party on the top floor of their apartment building. As they ride the elevator and stop at EVERY floor, more and more neighbors get on. (There's no way the elevator actually fits as many people as they show, but it adds to the hilarity and tension.) It's a great story for counting each floor, and for trying to guess how many are left. The characters are diverse and friendly, mirrored in gentle illustrations. There's even a sweet little twist at the end! Overall, a wonderful little story with a fantastic underlying message of inclusion and kindness.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A party is about to start but luckily all the attendees live in the same building. A diverse, inclusive cast of characters step on the elevator heading to the top every time the doors slide open. The delicate watercolor and color pencil illustrations create a sense of unity on the pages, especially when matched with a simple setting of an elevator. Children will love building up the anticipation after every page that says Going Up. A guessing game of who is coming next would be so fun to play while reading with a group of littles. One day we won't need to point out that a book is inclusive/diverse because it will be the new normal. This book reminds me that day is coming sooner then we know.

This is a fun story about a girl and her dad who have been invited to a birthday party on the top floor of their apartment building. As they ride the elevator, more and more friends get on. There's a little twist at the end (which I figured out, but kids probably won't see it coming).

The only thing about this book for me was the fact that there seemed to be too many people on that elevator! Maybe it's because I have a slight fear of elevators... Anyhow, I did like the neighbourliness of the people in the apartment.

Neighbors in an apartment building all pile in to the elevator on the way to Olive’s birthday party on the top floor. But as the elevator stops on each floor, the elevator gets more and more crowded. Will everyone make it to the party?

I felt like this book was all about showcasing the diversity of the people who live in the building and forgot about the plot. It seems like there should be more of a problem with the elevator or some need to problem solve to get everyone in, but nope. Nothing. So it does end up all about the diversity. There’s single parent families, multi-parent families, sibling pairs, a gay couple, and a single lady with her dog. There’s people of African descent, Hispanic descent, Indian descent, and probably Korean and Japanese (just going by the names). And they all just cram in an elevator, the doors open and they are at a party and bam, that’s it. I feel like just a couple more pages would have allowed at least something of a plot to develop. You don't even really get to know how the neighbors feel about each other or anything. They just get introduced, enter the elevator and on to the next floor. The illustration style is cute. The concept had promised but just kind of fell flat. If I could give half stars this would be a 2.5. I’ll round it up for the artwork.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn’t stop smiling throughout this book. The togetherness, the acceptance, the atmosphere of this book is like an open door where everybody is welcome. It’s a book that will warm your heart and make you smile :) It’s charming, simple and just very very lovely.
I would be happy to get this book on my birthday as a birthday card replacement hehehe. Honestly, what an adorable book! :)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Going Up! is a fun story about a little girl’s, named Sophie, elevator ride to a birthday party on the tenth floor of her apartment building. On each floor, more and more residents join Sophie and her father on their ride. This book was a fun time! I can definitely see my students really enjoying it. In addition, it also has an extremely diverse and inclusive cast of characters, which we love! I think that’s the strongest message that this book carries. All in all, I highly recommend Going Up! to any caretaker or teacher, and I will for sure be adding it to my classroom wish list

This is an adorable book about a girl and her dad going to their neighbor, Olive's, birthday party. As they go up in the elevator, many more people get on the elevator with them. There are so many bright and wonderful colors in this book and the illustrations are on point and attract the reader's eye. Honestly, that many people shouldn't have gotten on the elevator together - they probably maxed out the weight limit - but it is super cute and Olive is not who I expected her to be!

This book is fabulous for showing a sense of community in a tower block of flats/appartments. People and dogs of all ages join in the party fun with their friends and family to celebrate their friends birthday all together bringing their own treats to the party to share together.



The illustrations brought the story to life and I loved how the characters had a pencil sketch and coloured in feel about them too.



It was a great read that'll teach children about sharing, caring and helping others especially those in the same community.



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

This book features families of many kinds getting on to an elevator to attend a birthday party in an apartment building - the people and the families that get on are all happy and diverse. There is representation for different kinds of families and many skin colors, as well as diversity in last names. The illustrations are detailed enough that my child had fun searching for things, and it could create interesting conversations for older students. The words were simple and repetitive, and lend themselves to making inferences and predictions.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This sweet-natured picture book's premise is simple: it's Olive's birthday, and Olive lives way up on the ten floor of Sophie's apartment building. There's even a party to celebrate, and Sophie and her dad have made some cookies to take upstairs. Like most kids, Sophie loves elevators, and readily pushes the button for the tenth floor, but on the way the elevator stops at every floor heading up and a new neighbor - or set of neighbors - gets on, bearing treats or decorations for Olive's party as well! Soon the elevator goes from crowded to packed to overstuffed, nearly bursting with color and laughter (thanks to Charlene Chua's wonderful artwork) and people and pets, as everyone heads up to celebrate Olive's birthday - in the end, the reader finally finding out who the very popular Olive is. This charming and lively book should easily appeal to young kids, especially those living in bigger cities because Chua's illustrations beautifully reflect the multicultural diversity one can expect living in such an apartment building. Full of life, love and good food, Going Up! is a picture book that reflects a world where everyone belongs, and everyone is called a friend. (Note: the book itself is taller and narrower than your average picture book, giving even more of an impression of a rising elevator.) (Available April 7th) 4/5 stars

NOTE: I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.