My oldest son adored some of the titles by Erin Hunter when he was in elementary through middle school. I had never read one, so this particular ARC called to me as I didn't feel the need to have read any other titles first.

The use of animals to tell the story is something I can see as appealing to that age range of readers. Overall, the story was well thought out and I felt that there were underlying messages for the reader to digest.

My current middle schooler tried to read behind me and was not as impressed as his older brother. I'm chalking it up in part to his already reading and digesting books like The Hobbit.

Fans of Warriors, Bravelands, Survivors, and Seekers will love the newest series from the mind of Erin Hunter. In this series, a immense flood has separated three panda cubs from each other. Growing up without knowledge of each other, they unite to fulfill a prophecy from before they were born.

Erin Hunter is an expert at the middle grade books that pack a ton of adventure and heart into a simply great read.

This book was received as an ARC from HarperCollins Children's Books in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I am a fan of Erin Hunter's books and this one certainly did not disappoint. The adventure and thrill of escaping the tiger and finally being reunited with your family separated at birth. The struggle of the three pandas fitting in with their lives on their own and then coming to the realization that they need each other more than ever was such a heartwarming feeling. Since this is Book #1 of Bamboo Kingdom, I know there are more adventures at stake and I am sure they will peak the interest of our young readers. Erin Hunter does a brilliant job filling the story with details that just bring it to life and I know this will definitely be a candidate for our next Battle of the Books.

We will consider adding this title to our JFiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Any Erin Hunter fan will fall in love with Leaf, Rain, and Ghost, the panda family of siblings. Hunter’s series of books are aimed at the juvenile/middle-grade crowd and are all based on animal characters who speak. Wildly popular are the Warriors, Seekers, Survivors, and Bravelands series of books. This is Book 1 of the Bamboo Kingdom series. Three panda siblings were separated at birth and raised in different forests in the bamboo kingdom. Now, they each encounter different adventures, trying to find each other. Children who love animals and Hunter’s previous series can continue their reading journey with these new characters.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel.

Creatures of the Flood is a good book about three panda cubs and the fantastical world that they lived in. Ghost, Rain, and Leaf are littermates, but they have never met each other. Separated from birth, they each live with different species. Rain lives with her fellow pandas and is suspicious of the newcomer who claims to be the "Dragon Speaker", the speaker for their form of religion. Leaf lives with both red pandas and pandas and has to help save them from a mysterious predator hunting them. And Ghost lives with leopards and has to figure out why he can't pounce and is slower than his littermates. The cubs have to find each other and band together to save the pandas from their most deadly enemy.

I originally picked up this book because I really loved the Warriors series by the same author. This did not disappoint! The three cubs were very sweet and I especially loved Ghost. However, this was a traditional first-book-in-a-series kind of novel and there wan't much of a plot. The whole book was setting the scene for stories to come, whereas I think it would have been better with more story. The cliffhanger at the end is horrible, leaving me in suspense for at least another year! (Which is either good or bad, depending on your viewpoint.) Overall, a good book for fans of the author's other works!

I got this book for my daughter who absolutely loves the Warriors books by this author. Here is her review;
The story was great and I loved the plot. It was hard to keep the characters straight sometimes since I had a digital copy and not the physical book. I don’t know how the physical copy will look, but hopefully it will have a list of the character names in the front like the Warriors books do.
I loved that these characters were pandas since I love pandas. I enjoyed reading it and can’t wait till there are more in this series!

This book was so good. Wonderful start to a new series. As with all of Erin Hunter's books she brings the story to life with her words and it plays out like a movie in your mind. I loved this book and can't wait for the next book in this series. I received a complimentary copy from HarperCollins Children's Books via NetGalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinion was not affected by the free copy.

I requested this book because I was interested in seeing how these authors did with different animals. I admit I'm putting this on the DNF pile, but I'm mainly doing so because this book makes the very odd choice of having three main characters whose stories are told in alternating chapters. Just focusing on one of them would have been more than enough. I don't feel like any of them are given any sort of time to be fleshed out, and their social structures and cultures all seem a little different which also needs time to develop. But I was halfway through the book when I stopped and I still don't really know much about their societies or beliefs.

The three main characters are all kind of different in terms of how interested I am in following their stories. I would like following Leaf because I saw her interaction with the red pandas to be pretty cute; I would also like following Ghost because his identity crisis and the whole nature versus nurture argument would be compelling to follow. The one I'm least interested in following is Rain. It feels like it's just building up to some liar reveal or fake prophet kind of storyline. I just don't see that as engaging as the other two. Plus I'm not really liking Rain as a character. She is so focused in on Sunset being a liar and fooling the other pandas WHEN SHE DOES THE EXACT SAME THING. It feels hypocritical and I really hope she's called out on it.

There are some good things about this book. I like how there are so many different animals interacting with each other. The Warriors series felt a little stale at times because it was just all cats and nothing else. In this there are monkeys, red pandas, sun bears, snow leopards, tigers, and of course pandas. I also think the groups are interesting, but again, I would love to have more time showing how they live and what they believe. Not a bad start to a new series; I just wish the focus was on a single character rather than dividing the narrative between three. I realize the Warriors series did this, but that was after devoting books to building up the society as a whole. Giving the reader a lot of info dump on top of trying to get them acquainted with all the characters can feel a little overwhelming.

Three pandas must come together to fulfill a prophecy. The Bamboo Kingdom has experienced a great flood. Once where all creatures were able to travel freely, a great river separates the Kingdom. Leaf, who was raised in the Northern Forest, struggles to help her family find food. Rain, who lives in the Southern Forest, is hot-tempered and suspicious of a new panda that joins her group. Ghost, who lives in the mountains, doesn't even know that he is a bear - he was raised as a leopard! The triplets must come together to save their homes and reveal a traitor.

After loving the Bravelands series, I was overjoyed to be selected to receive an ARC from Netgalley and the publishers.

In Bamboo Kingdom, pandas are revered for their Dragon Speaker, to keep the peace in the ecosystem. The story starts off with a flood that changes everything and sets all animals a bit on edge. This series follows three panda cubs separated during this flood as they learn about the world around them. Some of the animal cast includes pandas, a tiger, leopards, red pandas, and more.

I love the continuation of animal characters with some factual dietary details mixed in. The names and clan set ups always keep myself and students invested.

I was a little disappointed that part of the plot line so far reads as very similar to the monkeys in the Bravelands series. However, I think Bamboo Kingdom will be just as wonderful of a series and I am looking forward to recommending these books to all of my animal-loving students.

My daughter loves Erin Hunter's Warrior Cat books and so when she first learned of this one series coming out she got so excited! We both have read this advance copy of the book and fell in love with the series. This one is just like the Warrior Cat books and will keep you on the edge of your seat for the whole book, only for it to end and you wonder what will happen in the next book. So until this comes out on paperback, my daughter will have to sit in suspense and pray that she can wait. Thanks for such a great book that is perfect for all ages!