I'm not sure what I was expecting from this book, but I'm quite sure it wasn't this. What an odd story.. I like the parallels of the girl following her grandfather's journal, using this journey to connect with him and the past.

The story is sweet, the animal mash-ups are cute, and the art is gorgeous! This is a book I would've loved as a child, and will make a great gift.

#Toucania #NetGalley

Wow! I absolutely loved this book and it would’ve been one that I would’ve checked out from the library often as a kid.

First of all, a secret island with whimsical creatures and colours? My imagination was completely captivated. The animals were often hybrids of different creatures. I especially loved the merbears (mermaids bears) and I was always so excited to turn the page and see what other creatures might be on the island. And Amelia makes a wonderful independent girl narrator!

The illustrations are gorgeous and so much fun. I truly think that Orca Books has some of the best illustrations out of all children’s books (and I also feel so proud of these artsy Montrealers for consistently creating such beautiful art!) The color scheme was lovely and I especially liked how whenever Amelia refers back to her grandfather’s experiences with the island, the pictures were in black and white to help differentiate whose experience it was. I also really appreciate that the story acknowledged that the grandfather never knew the name, because it wasn’t his island—he was just a visitor.

The story is playful and full of magic! Children will love this adventurous setting and the whimsical illustrations!

Toucania is one of the most aesthetically pleasing books! The art style is amazing, and the typography is perfect! The story itself was light-hearted and whimsical; I found myself smiling the entire time! I would recommend this book for any child! I especially loved the connection between Amelia and her grandfather.

Toucania was a wonderful adventure picture book where our main character Amelia explored a new island with many mystical creatures. The artwork was stunning and the colorful. It's a great book to read together with kids!

I liked this one. The art is beautiful and the creatures are certainly imaginative, although it did take me a few to realize that they were imagined creatures and not just sea creatures I'd never heard of. I do enjoy the generational nature of the story, and I think this would be a fun one for a kid to return to and explore, or to use as a mentor text for an imaginary animal writing or art project.

A fun, imaginative walk through Toucania with our fun and knowledgeable guide, Amelia. A visual delight for young readers!

I was able to get my hands on an English translation, and man did it not disappoint! Marianne Ferrer has made a magical adventure in this great picture book. I'm totally impressed!

Amelia is going on an adventure to a legendary island called Toucania! She's following in the steps of her Grandfather, and is super pumped about it. The adventure is full of colour and excitement.

The illustrations are cartoon-y and fun, with lots of colour being used to draw attention in. I liked how whimsical the book felt with the illustration style. I also like that this whimsical adventure would be a great bedtime story read for kids. It's so fun and adventurous. I can easily see kids loving this book.

Four out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orca Book Publishers for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Orca Books for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This is a children's book. This is a cute story with good graphics and made up animals. Amelia is retracing her grandfather's footsteps. We don't really know why. We don't know if she found anything new. Enjoyed that this is a female doing this showing that anyone can accomplish things, if they put their mind to it. Really nice graphics. 3 stars

"Toucania" by Marianne Ferrer and Valerie Picard is a beautiful story about a young woman who is an adventurer following in the footsteps of her grandfather. Main character, Amelia, will travel to the island of Toucania just like her grandfather did before her, on a quest to discover all the wildlife this mysterious island has to offer.

Our family enjoyed this beautiful book. Amelia is brave, smart and she savors all of the wonderful wilderness around her. We loved the story and all of the creatures. The book features imaginary animals that are combinations of animals which can be found in real life. As a parent, I was a little disappointed by this. Our planet has so many magical creatures, I think that the story would have been better featuring real animals that can be found in different areas on Earth. However, we loved the journey and the illustrations were fantastic. The soft pastels and array of colors are sure to please readers of all ages. We loved following along with Amelia's journey!

I thought the illustrations in this story were absolutely beautiful! I loved the idea of an aspiring female scientist following in her Grandfathers footsteps. Yay women scientists in books!

This book had a couple of "issues" (not problems, but points of contention I guess). It felt like a list, a sprinkling, of made up animals. You saw each one, and got it's funky name, but you didn't get to see much else about it. I LOVED the animals, and their creative names. Looking at them more in depth would have been awesome- even a spinoff field guide from this book would be cool. This book could be used by teachers for a creative writing activity, but I wish more details about the animals were given OR that we had spent more time learning about why she wanted to follow in her Grandfather's footsteps. I felt like it was a dusting of two topics, as opposed to a whole concise story about one thing?

That's not to say I didn't love the book, I just wish it had chosen to delve deeper into one of those two idea's, as opposed to skimming the surface on both.

Amelia dreams of visiting the magnificent island of Toucania which was discovered by her grandfather 50 years ago. Amelia sets out on her journey, and has her own adventure. I loved the imagination of this story- especially the magical creatures. Both the story & the illustrations were perfect.

I requested this book because of the gorgeous cover...it reminded me a bit of the Uni the Unicorn illustrations. My daughter (5) LOVES animals, especially imaginary ones, so I was excited to get approved and read this to her right away! I also loved that it was about a female adventurer and had a family aspect to it--the protagonist goes to visit Toucania because her grandfather did fifty years earlier.

My daughter really enjoyed this books! Especially the merbears and belicorns. I think there could've been fewer creatures so that more time could be spent getting to know them.

Overall cute book! Would read more from the author.

ARC COPY of English translation...Very imaginative and whimsical but also the themes of exploration into the semi-unknown and the legacy of following in a love one's footsteps felt nice.

I loved Toucania. It’s an inventive and imaginative reading experience — ideal for young readers, but worth checking out for a wider audience. Really lovely work.