Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read and review.

This book reminds me so much of Thornton Burgess books that I read in my youth. I loved this one and cannot wait to add it to my classroom library! Perfect chapter books for younger elementary read aloud or for independent reading.

My grandchildren just loved this story! I had such a good time reading it to them. I highly recommend this story for reading night!

I was lucky enough to be given a copy of the first book in this series, The Very Very Far North, and was lucky enough AGAIN to receive this second one as well. It is absolutely delightful. I think I like it even better than the first one. The characters are all near and dear to my heart. Duane and his friends are the perfect companions. There are many comparisons to Winnie the Pooh for this series, and I wholeheartedly agree. I love reading about how different they all are and how this influences how they interact with each other. Since we met them all in the first book, this one is filled with all their adventures and learnings. I love how there are lessons and morals in each of the stories. This is such a great book for children, and will provide relatable ways for them to explore the world through literature. I cannot recommend it more. It’s very cute and I’d be very happy to have it on my shelf.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an e-Arc of Dan Bar-el’s Just Beyond the Very, Very Far North.

Bar-El continues to provide young readers with wonderful messages about family, friendship, and life in the latest adventure of Duane the Polar Bear and his Arctic friends in Just Beyond the Very, Very Far North.

Like the first book this sequel did not disappoint. Duane and his friends are faced with new challenges in the form of a very loathsome weasel, who had a knack for creating discontent within friendships.

Along with the reader, Duane learns peacemaking skills with demonstrating good decision making when faced with difficult situations.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the beautiful black and white illustrations by Kelly Pousette. Once again, they only add to the overall enjoyment of this wonderful story.

When my son and I started JUST BEYOND THE VERY, VERY FAR NORTH we were unaware that is actually a sequel to another book titled The Very Very Far North. Fortunately, we were not lost at all. If you end up reading this book first too, I trust you'll be fine too. This is a children's chapter book. Small black and white illustrations are sprinkled on a few pages throughout the book.

The animal characters in this book are delightful. Duane, Magic, Major, C.C., Puff, Twitch, Handsome, and Boo. I can see this book easily being compared to Winnie the Pooh series, the main difference being it's set in the Arctic with it's indigenous animals. These characters touch your heart and feel like new best friends. When a loathsome character arrives the friendly bunch must figure out what to do.

Thank you Netgalley and SimonSchusterCanda for my review copy.

<i>arc kindly provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

This was another cute story full of wonderful messages about life, friendship, family and a myriad of other things!

The first book in this series was adorable and also had good messages but I feel like that one definitely was more on the cute side of things where this one definitely dealt with harder challenges among the group of friends.

This story in the hands of kids will do a lot of good, I think. The humor is easy to understand and the overall messages too so I think kids will really enjoy this! Especially with all of the adorable illustrations scattered throughout.

Overall, I had a good time with this and definitely recommend this if you have kids!

3/5 🌟