Fiona the hippo is always a must read in our house. We have a whole collection of "I Can Read" books and never fail to pick them up.

This one is a great addition to our collection and great for any animal lover who is starting to read. The illustrations are great and only enhance the story.

Cute book. Great illustrations. Perfect for my daughter's age. She was able to read with very little help. Thank you for the ARC.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I am loving these earlier reader book featuring Fiona the hippo.

Fiona has heard the news that a baby red panda has been born and she wants to go and see it. She asks several of her friends if they want to visit with her, but it is so far for them to go. Fiona has an idea, they will take the train. At night, when everyone is gone, they head to the train station and board the train. Fiona drives the train and off they go. They quietly visit the Red Panda's environment and see the baby, who looks exactly like its mother. They don't wake the sleeping baby, but head back to the train and to their beds, all feeling very tired. Messages include helping each other, trying new things and being respectful of others. A sweet story that I read to my grandchildren, then my oldest read it to his two younger siblings. They love all the pictures of the animals and the zoo and laughed at some of the situations Fiona gets herself in. I like the I Can Read books as they allow my grandson to build confidence in his reading ability and also have a fun story that keeps their interest. A definite must of primary classrooms, school libraries and family libraries.

Fiona the hippo wants to see the newborn red panda, but that section of the zoo is a long way from where Fiona lives. Then she hears the zoo train and gets an idea. After closing time, Fiona and her friends get on the train and travel to the panda section. With all working together, they do get to see the new baby.

Everyone works together to accomplish their goal. The illustrations are wonderful, the story does not talk down to young children. As a Level 1, the story is filled with an abundance of text and art work.

We LOVE Fiona the Hippo!! This is such a fun and adorable book with beautiful illustrations perfect for young children! Ronan (three year old) loves trains, and he loved this book. This is such a great little series. We can't wait for more books about the lovely Fiona!

Thank you Zonderkids a digital copy of this book! This book is out now!!

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

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏!

A lovable hippo + a train ride + slapstick humor + an adorable baby red panda = a successful kids book! Fiona wants to see the baby red panda but her animal friends don’t want to walk all the way across the zoo so Fiona drives her friends in the zoo train! Readers and listeners will giggle when Fiona gets stuck and needs help from her friends, they’ll chant “Choo Choo” right along with the characters, and they’ll all coo over the adorable baby red panda. The illustrations are really lovely and the story definitely knows it’s target audience! I think some of the vocabulary is too advanced for a Level 1 reader to read independently, but it doesn’t detract from the cuteness of the story.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Zonderkidz for the opportunity to give an honest review after reading an advance electronic copy.

Cute story. Fiona the baby hippo wants to see the new baby red panda. However, the baby is across the zoo. She Fiona and her friends hop a ride on the train. This is what a beginning reader is supposed to be. I think the level is a little hard to be labeled 1, but each publisher sets their own standards.

My daughter and I loved this story. She has become. Big fan of Fiona and her adventures and this one did not disappoint! We loved that they were going to see the new baby panda and how they all worked together when Fiona got stuck.

Loved this book. Fiona is so cute and it's so fun to read about her adventures. My daughter would love this book.

This is a cute book. There's a new baby in town and the Fiona wants to meet it.

This is an excellent book for new readers and the illustrations are beautiful.

The animal kids take a train ride to meet the new baby.
My little one loved this book. I think it would have been great to meet some of the other families.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy of this ARC for my honest review.

This book is very cute! A train ride to see a new baby red panda!

This is a good book for new readers and the illustrations are fantastic just like the other Fiona books.

The only thing that my first grader would have liked in this book would have been to show more different types of animals like some of the other Fiona books. Maybe the train could have made more stops and picked up different animals along the way to see the baby.

Overall an engaging book for new readers!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy of this ARC for my honest review.

This was an average story about how to tell I love you. It was a cute story that could help youngsters.

Another adorable Fiona book to add to our collection! This one was fun, and my daughter who loves the train at the zoo enjoyed reading about it. Very cute, and great illustrations.

This is the first Fiona book we have read, but it was an extremely cute and fun read. The illustrations are beautiful, and would definitely be a lovely learner book.

This book is written well for the age range that would be learning to read at this level. The story is simple and engaging but with words that would be suitably challenging. The story also allows the children to be introduced to a host of animals that they may not have met before whilst including some more easily recognisable ones.

We really loved this and look forward to reading more of Fiona's adventures.


Thank you Netgallery and Zonderkidz for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Fiona’s zoo adventures are so exciting! My toddler especially loves naming all of the animals and seeing what kind of fun they get into!

In this story, Fiona hears about a red panda baby being born and wishes to go. You’ll meet her friends and ride along with them around the zoo to meet the new baby!

I absolutely adore Fiona and every character we meet along the way — including Mama.

I think, too, that the illustrations were spectacular. It was very realistic but also very soft and ‘cutesy’ would be the best way I could describe it.

I believe this is a level one readers book and I think I’d agree with that statement. It’s a very easy level for those newer readers and it brings a lot to the table with possible animals that they either seldom hear about or don’t know of yet.

5/5 stars, I’m very happy to have read this for free for review. I’d absolutely purchase this myself or perhaps even for a classroom, I think a lot of children would love this book and there are absolutely activities and study ideas one could pull from this.

I received an electronic ARC from Zonderkidz through NetGalley.
Fiona and her friends want to see the new baby red panda but can't walk there. They get the idea to ride the zoo train rather than go up and down the hills. Fiona drives the train and they all go see the new baby.
The simple sentence structure works well for young readers. The pictures offer context clues for more difficult words. Families can read together and early elementary level readers can enjoy this alone.

We've become big fans of Fiona at our house. Through the stories by Richard Cowdrey we've watched her grow and flourish. Now there's a new baby red panda at the Cincinnati zoo and Fiona is bound and determined to see that baby! It's a long way across the zoo from Fiona's house to the new baby's house so Fiona and her friends decide to take the train. Who's going to drive it? Fiona of course!

You and your new little reader are invited to come along for the ride. This is a Level 1 I Can Read! book which means it is made up of short sentences, familiar words, and simple concepts to help your children read on their own.

It is a sweet book with lovely artwork. It will plant a wonderful smile on your little reader's face when they are able to advance from reading it with you to reading it to you. This is another wonderful addition to this series of books.

I received a copy of this book to facilitate my review.

What a delightful book. The glossy pictures gave my grandson (just finished kindergarten) so much to devour with his eyes. Fiona is a hippo. The stories are centered around Fiona and her other animal friends. The Level One I Can Read designation meant that he could read ithe Fiona books on his own, using phonics and sounding it out. These books could also be read aloud to a beginning reader, allowing for the beginning reader to start recognizing and reading the words on their own. Many thanks to Zondervan and NetGalley for the DRC in exchange for an honest review. This review applies to both Fiona Goes to School and Fiona's Train Ride.