This was such an interesting way to let children make their own decision and see what the results would be put into a book! I think it's a really effective way for children to learn, this way it's kind of a "learn from your mistakes" but its fictional!

As a mom I am always looking for books that help my son who is 5 and on the Autism Spectrum that help him to better understand feelings and make choices. I also love books I can read to him that give us a chance for bonding while reading. I was so excited to be able to read this story with him thanks to NetGalley and the publishers.
In the stories of Lily and NIco we get to choose how the story goes. We make the choice for the characters and this helps us to better understand what consequences are, how decisions affect everyone and understanding others feelings and emotions. It then gives us the opportunity to discuss what happened and what could happen. We also can go back and reread the story and choose a different path. I loved the questions and the activities at the end of the book to further explore what we read. Even though the stories are geared a little older it was still great for me to share with my son.
I highly recommend this book to all families who are working on feelings and understanding social skills.
1000 stars

The book Lily and Nico effectively addresses key social and emotional skills through relatable stories and interactive choices. Its themes—such as friendship, empathy, conflict resolution, and emotional intelligence—offer children valuable lessons. The "You Choose" format allows readers to engage actively, fostering critical thinking as they navigate different outcomes for the characters. This, combined with end-of-the-book reflection questions, provides a strong foundation for discussions between children and adults, helping young readers process what they’ve learned. The activities support growth in social skills, emotional resilience, and problem-solving, making the book a fun yet educational tool for kids.

The concept of this book is genius and I’m happy to say that it is carried out beautifully.

“Lily and Nico” is a “choose your own ending” style story collection for kids that covers topics like miscommunications, conflicts, and jealousy between friends. It allows its readers (it is specifically aimed at ages 6 to 9) to have a safe, fictional space to process the enormous feelings that come from tensions between friends.

Packaged along with charming characters, cute illustrations, and relatable settings are important lessons on key skills like emotional regulation, empathy, how to apologize, and what to do when faced with a bully.

I was particularly excited when I came across this book because when I was an undiagnosed autistic child, resources like these were my lifeline for navigating hard-to-understand social situations. Now that I’m a parent of an autistic son, I decided to read this book together to see how he liked it.

The recommended age is a little older than my son, which I think is really accurate since my son hasn’t had many friendship challenges yet as a new Kindergartener. But even without being able to relate, it kept his interest and it was an amazing way to teach him about consequences and prepare him for the future.

He was sometimes uncomfortable with the tensions that would arise within the story, but it never felt like too much and he understood that those parts aren’t meant to feel good.

Overall, we both loved it and I ordered a physical copy to have on his bookshelf to look back on and explore different options he didn’t choose the first time through. It’s a truly inspired resource for all kids, but I would doubly recommend picking up a copy if you have a child with autism who may - like younger me - want an extra resource on hand as they navigate this big, confusing world.

Thank you to Z Kids and Net Galley for the ARC of this book!

3.5 Stars

I grabbed this book because I liked the cover and it was labelled as a children’s read. My daughter is almost 7 and I feel it was a bit old for her. She was excited to read it as she liked the cover illustrations. The chose your own adventure books are always fun too. Reading as an eBook did make choosing a little harder it would let you chose them let you select the other options as well but you couldn’t get back to the start of the next chapters which was fine I could use the table of contents. I liked that we got stories from each character and different ways that they could react. It is an interactive way to keep the readers interested.
I would still recommend this book but to a bit older kids.

Thank you to Netgalley and Z Kids for the review copy.

I have a 5 year old who really struggles socio-emotionally and am always looking for books to help him manage difficult situations with peers. I loved that this book read like fiction, with clear, likable, unique characters, put in relatable every day situations - a play date miscommunication, navigating new and old friendships and school partner assignments, keeping secrets, how to react to mistakes. Lily and Nico felt like real kids! I also really appreciated the nuance in the choose your own adventure component. There wasn't a black and white right and wrong approach, especially with the last story dealing with the jeering team members. Lastly, I appreciated there were discussion questions for each chapter. I would have liked however, that were discussion questions geared towards different age groups. The book says it's for ages 6-9, however these situations felt a little more like they were geared towards 8-10 year olds than the younger set.

This was such a wonderful book! As a mom with two kids on the autism spectrum I was so excited to dive into a book about social skills with them. The “you choose” option was amazing and gave us lots of talking points. It reminded me of the goosebumps series in a way.

The reason I knocked a star is because I do feel like it was a little too serious for younger kids.

This was an awesome chapter book! My 8 year old loved it. The questions at the end were great. Illustrations were cute and did not take away from the story!

This choose your own adventure aspect is such a fun and interactive way to get kids engaged. And also to read the book multiple times, which will help them with their comprehension skills so much too!

I never thought about picking a book up like this for my niece, but I honestly want to now. If she gets to be a part of where the story is going, and can go back and choose all over again like one of her video game apps, then that is such a smart way to get her engaged. I just love the idea!

But as for Lily and Nico's short stories, I found each one to have quite the emotional impact. It was great at showing the impact of your actions can have on other peoples emotional well being. For instance, when Lily went to the dentist and forgot to tell Nico all about it in the first story. You got to see how he reacted in three different timelines, but ultimately how if he didn't talk to Lily he was always going to be left frustrated. Their communication in all of these stories was the key to them working through their own complicated feelings and both ending up happy. They both continued to have to learn that their actions directly effect the other one's emotions. But also how one person's negative emotions, could effect someone else's positive emotions. The cause and effect of life kids, teach them how to handle these rollercoaster of emotions while their young!!

Also the little added illustrations of Nico and Lily on their adventures by Anuki López were so well done! I loved the art style, and the characters had so much personality!

I do have to say I don't know if the age group this is slated for between 6 and 9 seems right to me though. Maybe I am just basing it off of my niece who just turned 8, but I think she would struggle to read this in its entirety. The theme of the story itself was nice and she could use the lessons being taught in this for sure. I also could see her enjoying it if I read it to her or with her (which is still a great idea), however just her on her own would probably be at a later date once she works on her reading more. But that's just as a note to the publisher and whoever is marketing this, and less so to the author.

Thank you to Z Kids, and Net Galley for the ARC of this book ❤️

Thank you to Net Galley for this e- copy of Lily and Nico( Social Skills Stories) by Peyton Curley . I have worked in a preschool classroom for over 10 years and have seen the success first hand of Social Skills stories . The stories in this book are enjoyable to read and each story gives three possible outcomes to the problem presented that the children get to decide on . Each outcome is examined and the children can decide if this outcome is effective. I love these stories because the child first hand can see what solution is appropriate and can use these stories to seek solution to their own problems.

What this book really excels at is the "You Choose" interactive options, much like the Goosebumps books of my childhood, but without the nightmares and with all the social-emotional regulation. I think books like Lily and Nico are great tools and learning opportunities for families and classrooms to have on hand to help children work through their feelings in pretend situations that they relate to. What makes this particular book fantastic is the ability to revisit each situation and look at the other responses to see how the scenarios can change - this allows kiddos to see how the options they have lead to different outcomes, and if they take the time to reflect on their feelings, wants and needs, as well as those of the people around them, they can make the best decisions and face challenges with ease.

Thank you, Z Kids, for the ARC.

I like the illustrations. They are really cute!

What I love most about this book is how the author exactly describes what each child would go through with friendships.

These emotions are difficult to explain or describe to actually get an answer. The book deals with how the child can deal with them in different situations and I really feel it would be of much help to the one reading the book.

For the audience age group, the book may come off as rather too serious and uncomfortable for them to read about one negative emotion after another. I would suggest better reading engagement comes with alternating one positive happy scenario with a problem or issue they would most likely have to deal with.

Overall a good helpful read for young children.