I've been following Grumpy the Iguana since day one and this is a great addition to the series. The storylines and illustrations get better and better as more books are published.

This is the cutest book. Baby is about to turn two which in manatee world means leaving Mom and being on their own. Baby is scared to face this. This story is fun, educational and inspiring. We learn a lot about manatees, the ocean, and facing fears. This book is part one so it leaves us at a cliff hanger, but I am very excited to read the second book. The illustrations are very cute and simple. The colors are very appealing.

Thank you NetGalley and The Gourmet Dog LLC, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles for accepting my request to read and review Growing Up is Hard To Do Part 1 and Part 2.

Author: Susan Marie Chapman
Published: 09/15/22
Genre: Children's Fiction -- Outdoors & Nature -- Parenting & Families

Please note, I review children's books as if I am randomly picking up the book reading to a child I don't know. With that said, both of these books are a miss for me, and note there will be a third book.

The books end mid thought. I questioned having a proper download. The first book started in what I consider missing a beginning. I looked and fiddled with the screen looking for a first page.

Unfortunately, there are more questions than answers when it comes to the title. Other than a manatee spends two years with its mother, there wasn't talk of growing up. The books seemed convoluted. I do wonder if these were accidental rough draft downloads.

The illustrations were okay. I was thrown off by the friendship species. The picnic scene had me thinking, don't birds eat mice.

The books were written for someone, specific, I do hope they worked for that person.

I reviewed together because the problems and issues are the same in both books.

the style of illustration is very unique and nicely coloured. the story is very simplistic and easy to follow. by ending on a cliffhanger needing to read part two is necessary

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Growing Up is Hard To Do Part 1 is a tale featuring some familiar characters (Grumpy the iguana and hos friends) and a new character Baby the manatee. Baby is almost two and that means she will separate from her mother and go alone out into the ocean. Baby is scared about leaving her mum and being on her own as she doesn't feel as though she fits in with other ocean dwellers. Baby's mum tries to reassure her and remind her how proud and unique manatees are. The story is in two halves and we end on a little cliff hanger in this book. This is quite fun for children as they will really want to know what happens next. This book teaches children about manatees and how they are different to fish and has some great illustrations. I'm looking forward to reading part two next!

Thank you to The Gourmet Dog LLC and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

Baby Manatee is almost two years old which means she has to go out to life alone without her mother, she is sad and doesn’t want to leave her mother. Her mom tells her she’s going to make a great group of soul friends and she’ll be fine. After eating she goes to the marina and sees a group of friends together wondering if they could be hers also.

This was really cute I liked that it was a sweet story of a baby manatee growing up, needing to learn to fend for herself and getting some friends. It was also filled with factual information, sharing all about manatees and it was done so cleverly as the mother manatee shares all these facts to the baby. It’s a very clever touch adding in those features and in the way they did it.

It was a very sweet read, I really enjoyed reading it. It was strange that we got the story stop right in the middle of a storyline, may have been better to stop it just a little before and then start the second book. It was still a very sweet read and I liked learning more about the manatee.

Oh I didn't know that children book could have a cliffhanger. now I know, after reading this book. this is the first part of "Growing Up is Hard to Do" story, featuring Baby the baby manatee. the story didn't really explore the "growing up" phase, and more about how Baby just wanna be friends with other sea creatures and she don't wanna be different. One day she met Grumpy the Iguana and Green Parrot at the surface, then the story ended. let's see what happens in the part 2

I thought that this was an enjoyable book

The story was easy to follow and it was fun to read with my daughter who thoroughly enjoyed it too, the illustrations are lovely and really made us smile

It is four stars from me for this one –highly recommended!

I loved the how beautifully the graphics portray the content. This is a lovely book with great illustrations and a touching depiction of a mama and baby relationship.

I loved the illustrations on this book! The animals were so cute and the narrative was awesome. The illustrations and story depicts the relationship of a little mantee and mama mantee and how the mama mantee teaches the baby of what is in the outside world and how it will find friends of its own. A powerful message to young children!

Honestly – I feel the title on this one. This one focuses on a precious baby manatee who is not looking forward to her upcoming second birthday. The precious little manatee knows all too well that once she turns two, as it the way of manatees, her mom will go back to the herd and she will left to fend for herself. More than that, she is worried because a lot of the other fish do not want to play with her due to her size. Her mom reiterates that one day she will find the best of best friends, and will know they’re her people right away, because they will love her for exactly who she is. This precious little under the sea coming of age story will tug at your heartstrings, but overall, it is a wonderful message about new horizons, growing up, and finding our place in the world.

I appreciated that this book incorporated animal facts into the fictional narrative! Readers will identify with relationship between the mama and baby manatee more than they would think!