Charlotte doesn’t miss! These books are lighthearted, funny, informative and draws your attention from page one. I love that when you’re reading them to your kids or scholars they laugh and truly use their imagination to explore the story!

A cute book about two sisters and their various adventures with a wide variety of different animals. They have lots of fun, from giving a bear a haircut to picking berries with a group of rabbits! Following a rhyming pattern, this simple but entertaining book is sure to ensnare the reader, no matter if they're young or old.

Also, there is a list of animal facts at the end, which I thought was very interesting.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinions are completely my own.

I would like to start this review by stating I have changed the name of my friend chat to the Magical Menagerie. It took fun to not bring into my daily life.

The story is wonderful and accompanied by wonderfully bright illustrations that makes it cosy and just fun.

I also enjoyed how the Manager Miscellany includes questions to discuss with the human (or rabbit in my case) they were reading with.

Teresa Argenbright’s Charlotte and Penelope and Their Magical Menagerie is a delightful book that offers a wealth of opportunities for early childhood learning. The rhythmic, playful text is perfect for introducing or reinforcing phonological awareness, as children can clap along to the syllables, predict rhyming words, and even create their own rhyming phrases inspired by the story. These interactive activities not only make learning enjoyable but also support essential listening and language development.

The illustrations by Dan McGeehan are vibrant and detailed, providing an excellent springboard for class discussions. The imagery invites children to explore colours, textures, and shapes while encouraging them to infer emotions or actions from the characters. These visual elements spark creativity, inspiring children to imagine their own magical menageries or expand on the adventures of Charlotte and Penelope.

One of the most refreshing aspects of this book is its inclusion of unique animals, such as fireflies and loons, which stand out from the typical choices found in many children’s stories. This opens the door to fascinating investigations into less-common creatures, offering opportunities for science lessons on habitats, behaviours, and ecosystems. Linking these discussions to real-world experiences, such as observing birds or searching for fireflies, enhances children’s connection to nature and the world around them.

The book also lends itself to a variety of cross-curricular activities. Children could draw or craft their own magical animal companions, write short stories or descriptions of their favourite creatures, or engage in imaginative play inspired by the narrative. Each of these activities builds on the book’s themes of creativity and exploration, enriching the learning experience.

I would definitely add this to my classroom library – it was so much fun to read! Its engaging rhymes, beautiful illustrations, and unique animal characters make it a versatile resource for early childhood classrooms, fostering a love for language, art, and the natural world. Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC copy.

This is VERY cute and I love the educational element about animals that aren’t as common! I do wish the book explained what menagerie meant a little bit since this is for children and there are some other big words that are used for rhyming purposes (ie debonair) that could be fixed with a different name.

The story is very sweet! We have to sisters, Charlotte and Penelope, who have quite an assortment of friends, from octopi to a debonair bear.

The illustrations in this book are simple and bright, which will appeal to children. I could easily see a young artist trace and color many of the funny images found throughout the book.

The writing is easy for early readers, an even introduces new words like "menagerie" and "vigor".

It is also written in a rhyming cadence, which will be easy for readers to pick up on and read through the book. It would be an excellent book to talk to young readers about rhymes and have the reader think of other words that would also fit into that part of the story.

I really appreciated the "Menagerie Miscellany" page at the end of the story that is fully of little pieces of facts and trivia about all of the animals found in the book.

Thank you so much to Brown Books Kids and Netgalley for the ebook to read and review.

Sisters Charlotte and Penelope have a unique group of friends, they’re called a menagerie, they do many fun things with all their friends and have such fun adventures.

This was really cute it was very full on rhyming and would be a book children would absolutely enjoy, they’ll be learning and be repeating it themselves after a few reads. The story was really whimsical and funny, the illustrations though weren’t my favourite in style were still vibrant and giant showing off all the events that were happening within the story.

I liked the array of animal characters that we met along the story and all the multitude of activities the girls were getting up too. It was a really entertaining read that I know readers would throughly enjoy.

Geared towards a 4- 8-year-old audience, this book is helpful for young emerging readers as it encourages using phonics which they can easily use to decode the next rhyming word based on the last word of the previous word.

This story is enjoyable and I couldn't help but chuckle at the writer's creativity. The illustrations are gorgeous and colorful. My 11-year-old enjoyed the story and recommended the book to her elementary school classmates.

At the end of the book, they ask readers fun questions to give them further things to think about, along with interesting facts about the animals featured in the book.

I actually *adore* this book!! The main thing that I really enjoyed about Charlotte and Penelope's menagerie story was the tone of the entire book. It had adventure, kindness, joy, fun, and humor. This is a blend of a lot of things, but the author found the perfect mix to include all of these values without overwhelming the reader. Additionally, all of these emotions compiled into one short book make the reader actually feel the same by the end of the book. In other words, I finished this book with a smile on my face; I felt relaxed and happy. Speaking of, this element and the ending make this book a no-brainer for bedtime - or anytime! The illustrations were breathtaking and complemented every bit of the writing *flawlessly*. Lastly, the rhymes were *seamless* and each "poem" was wildly fun, and some even make me chuckle out loud.
Bravo!!!

The illustrations in this book were wonderful! I love the octopus! The story is cute and the rhyming keeps kids going to the next page. I also loved the page of facts at the end - and always appreciate when books make kids feel like it’s time for bed at the end of a good book (when it’s mentioned like it is here)!

This book is great for kids. My 2-year-old loved listening to it and looking at the pictures, he especially loved the poodle. My 7-year-old loved the facts at the end, and it helped him learn new words.