Very cute story.

The pictures are vibrant and kept my five year old daughters attention while we read together. The story gave a good lesson and I appreciated that at the end, “assumption” was broken down for her to better understand. She has now used the phrase twice since we finished!

Thank you Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review

This was a phenomenal book for young kids. When Frog loses his ball and Mouse spots the ball at the new neighbor's house, everyone jumps to conclusions and makes an assumption about how the ball came to be at that house. This book provides a great opportunity to speak to children about making assumptions about people they don't know, blindly following their friends, and making their own minds up based on evidence.

"Afraid of Your Neighbour" is a wonderful story about not making assumptions and not drawing factual conclusions without the evidence of your fears.

Frog loses his ball and cannot find it anywhere. He assumes that the new neighbour who has just moved into the community (whom he has never met or even seen) is the perpetrator of the theft. Frog's forest friends rally around his unsubstaniated suspicions and are ready to storm the new neighbour's home and retrieve Frog's ball. Their mob mentality and brute solidarity will surely result in getting that ball back to its owner.

Only little mouse is brave enough to confront the new arrival and seek out the truth. What will she encounter when she meets the so-called stealer? Will he be a kind, gentle, inviting new neighbour or a dangerous rogue thief ready to terrorize everyone in the forest?

The gorgeous illustrations are colourful, detailed and engaging. The author has included discussion questions at the end of the book that are sure to spark conversations about the life lesson that is being presented. It teaches that it is best to approach an unknown situation with logic and evidence rather than with your imagination and suspicion which can lead to jumping to incorrect conclusions.

I love the book and would recommend it in classrooms and elementary school libraries.

A perfect picture book that speaks to something that is prevalent in our society no matter what age. Assumptions isolate and create misunderstandings.
The whimsical illustrations are very appropriate. I love the community built by these diverse animals and that the author didn't decide to make the fox the apparent villain as usual. I love a great animal character book.

This is a cute little book about knowing your feelings and talking through them if something bothers you or you don't feel sure about something. The illustrations were adorable and well done.

This was such a great book! The pictures were vibrant and inviting and my three year old loved it. I loved the message of this book ~ don't judge someone before you know them! And stand up for others when you can. A sweet, important story that everyone could benefit from hearing! More kindness, less judgement 💕✌🏻

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 Kind World Publishing for a digital copy of this book! This book is due for publication 8/2/22.

💙 Mommy (@𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐦𝐨𝐦) and Ronan (@𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐤𝐢𝐝) approved ✅

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 & to 𝑨𝒎𝒂𝒛𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒂𝒚!

Lovely artwork and a great message about learning not to make assumptions about others. This is a nice title for empathy-building.

This is a lovely book about making assumptions about a new neighbor. Frog’s ball is missing and it seems to be at their new neighbor, Badger’s cave. So, several of the animals decide he stole the ball and must confront him and gather weapons as well. Mouse, is the only one suggesting more caution. Mouse saves the day. It is rarely a good idea to jump to conclusions and decide someone has done a bad deed. In this case, that Badger must be a thief. I think this sends a very good message to children and adults, too about overreacting and acting harshly when you do not know the full story.

The illustrations by Malgosia Zajac are especially stunning and the reason I gave the book 5*. Both the story and the pictures capture this much needed message so well. Excellent book for all ages. Start with kindness first.

Thank you NetGalley, Katherina E. Volk, and Kind World Publishing for an ARC of this book. I really enjoyed it.

My 4-year-old twin girls really enjoyed this book! Frog loses his ball in the woods, and Mouse notices that it rolled to the cave of a new neighbor. All the forest animals assume that the new neighbor, Beaver, is a beast and thief who stole the ball. Mouse is the only one who speaks up against this assumption. When they arrive at Beaver’s cave to confront him, mouse goes in first and Beaver kindly gives him the ball and invites all the animals in for chocolate milk.

Mouse stands up for what is right in this story, despite the prejudices of the other animals. My twins loved the bright illustrations and enjoyed answering the discussion questions at the end of the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Kind World Publishing for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is about a new neighbour in the forest, and the assumption that this new neighbour stole Frog's missing ball! This is a great book to teach about prejudice and assumptions and learning about those who are different to us. The illustrations are really neat, I love seeing the animals' houses like the Hare's burrow which is underground and has a bunch of pictures of a million bunny family members (that's a fun joke for the adults!). The book suggests the age range of 4 to 9 and as a grade 3 teacher I would definitely agree. I could see my students loving this book. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this awesome book!

Don't judge a book by it's cover. That is the ultimate moral of this story. Don't make assumptions about someone before you get the chance to meet them.

A new resident moved into the forest, but no one knows who it is. Frog's ball goes missing and immediately everyone blames the new neighbor. He must be the thief... right? With an army of friends in two, Frog goes to confront the new creature and fight for his ball back if he must. Only little Mouse is hesitant, because he knows there is more to the story. You cannot just jump to conclusions without all the facts.

The whole animal group marches up to the door and out comes a friendly Beaver with the ball in hand. He had found it by the river and was hoping to return it to the rightful owner. With the wind sucked right out of their sails, the animals realize they had been about to make a huge mistake over a silly misunderstanding because the just assumed something before learning the truth. A mistake that almost cost them a friendship.

Adorable, hand painted illustrations are fun and engaging. Plenty of great lessons for kids to learn. This story was both entertaining and educational, which can be a tricky balance to maintain in a children’s book, and I will be suggesting it to teachers whenever possible. Incorporating social-emotional topics such as this into children's picture books is a tried and true way to teach important life skills in a way that is fun. This would be an amazing addition for classrooms, libraries, counselling offices and more.

This story shows children to not judge people before you get to know them. It also teaches us to not just do something because someone else is. There is a new person in the neighboorhood and all the animals right away assume the new animal is a thief, except mouse. We eventually get to the new neighbor and realize he is actually a great person.

I really enjoyed how many characters there are in this book.

an interesting fabel about making friends. i love the colorful illustration so much. the moral value is don't judge a person by its first impression.

This story encourages children to step back from a situation and think. A wonderful seed to plant in young minds and done very nicely. This should be required reading in classrooms. The illustrations nicely complement the text.

Thank you #NetGalley and Kind World Publishing for the arc of 'Afraid of Your Neighbor'.

'Afraid of Your Neighbor' is a modern fable about assumptions and why it's important to not jump to conclusions out of fear. Frog loses his ball, and when it is discovered near the home of a new neighbor, the forest animals work themselves up into believing the new figure must be a dangerous thief and rampaging beast. How quickly the friends fall into dangerous 'group think' and prepare for threats and violence is a startling but significant reflection of what can happen when assumptions are made without actual information. Only mouse questions the group and is brave enough to introduce herself to the new neighbor, discovering that he as actually kind, inviting, and generous. Discussion questions at the end help engage readers to focus on the lessons of the fable while being open-ended enough to encourage critical thinking.

The illustrations are colorful, detailed, and expressive, creatively filling the pages and compelling the reader forward. Beautiful art!

#NetGalley #AfraidOfYourNeighbor

Afraid of Your Neighbor is a cut above in the picture book genre of "not jumping to conclusions." The animal friends have what they think is a good reason to fear (and be angry with) their new neighbor; the newcomer seems to have taken Frog's ball. It is all too easy to think one cannot be prejudiced if one is judging by something other than one's subjective opinion. The decision of most of the animals to bring weapons to confront the alleged thief (albeit rocks, sticks, and a pan) adds a note of tension not usually included in this type of tale. Mouse's solution to the problem is charming, as are the colorful, slightly loose illustrations.

Afraid of Your Neighbor is a book about a frog who was playing with his friends when he looses his ball. Frog and his friends begin looking for it when Mouse comes up, saying they've seen the ball in the new neighbor's yard! Immediately, the whole group (besides Mouse) are up in arms, creating a plan to get the ball back even though they know nothing about this new neighbor. The story goes on, when at the end lesson about assumptions is learned.

This was a well written story with a point, which is always nice when it comes to stories for kids. The art was quite adorable, kind of a children's drawing style. The book was clear in it's moral, and the writer even included the definition of "assumption" and some talking points at the end of the book as well to help further the conversation.

I'd definitely recommend this to those with children of the appropriate age, or for daycare/school libraries!

*I was given a copy of this title via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was a great book with such a great lesson. The illustrations were gorgeous! I really appreciated the lesson learned and the questions at the end.

I always appreciate Children's books which inculcate lessons within the story context. AFRAID OF YOUR NEIGHBOR teaches important wisdom about the nature of assumptions and on using logic to approach a new situation rather than automatically jumping to immediate conclusions.

Afraid of Your Neighbor was such a cute story about meeting new people and how wrong it is to make assumptions before meeting someone. The illustrations were bright and fun. I really enjoyed all the different animals, and how the Mouse was the voice of reason in the group.