Before I launch into my review, I would like to say a warm thank you to Stefanie Gamarra, and Netgalley for the Advanced Digital Reader Copy of this title. For anyone with their eye on this title, here is my personal review of the book to help you decide whether you are interested or not. All opinions offered are my own.

As I read this story, I felt there was a lesson in it that was on par with The Boy Who Cried Wolf. I was also reminded a little of the Gruffalo and Peter Pan for subtle reasons.

Little Kai fancies himself as a bit of a storyteller and enjoys telling tales to the village children. Some cry whilst others listen with intent as Kai uses his pitch and tone to create suspense and fear. One day, he realizes that his story might not be a story after all. But will he know how to act when the time comes, and will he live to tell the tale?

I thought the story was good. When there is text, it is written in large sections so that the next two to three pages can be given over solely to illustrations.

The color palette was a little on the bland side with pastel blue, greens, greys, and browns. I’m not sure I would seek this book out repeatedly if it was my choice to pick the story book. Overall, I think tis book will either be loved or loathed by children depending on their tolerance for scary tales (by kids’ standards).

Kai is a kid with a big imagination and who loves to tell stories to the kids from his village. The adults don't always like those stories, but Kai is telling them anyways!

This story is very cute. If you believe in something, it might come true. And even though fairytales are considered for children, what if they were real? The adults don't have time, but with a bit of imagination and belief you can come a long way and you might happen to come across one of your fairytale creatures!

The illustrations are pretty and cute as well and support the story very well.

Thanks Netgalley for the arc.

Lovely vintage-style art adorns this never-cry-wolf story.

I enjoyed the art, and the story has a lot of potential, but I would have liked the focus to be more on the kappa and less on being a Boy Who Cried Wolf retelling. The Japanese and Greek cultural fusion just felt a bit disjointed.

Great art though—particularly those kappa illustrations.

Five stars for the art work, I love the whimsy, textures and mixed media. The frog and the turtle are fun addition, as well as some fairytale characters spread throughout.

Three stars for the story, the basis on a Japanese folktale is great-reminds me of an Aesops fable with a lesson to be learned. I would have preferred if the author let the children discover on their own the “moral of the story” instead of spelling it out for them.

Overall a cute look into Japanese culture and folklore with amazing art!

I found this one quite difficult to review, I will start by saying that I personally quite enjoyed it, but then I'm not the target audience. When I settled down to read it with my 6 year old, he was engaged throughout, and when we finished it he did initially say that he enjoyed it. That being said, he seemed quite unsettled by the Kappa itself, and after a few minutes of contemplation he didn't seem so sure. Unfortunately, I don't think he'll be rushing back to read it again.
The artwork by Marta Pilosio is absolutely gorgeous, and I loved to see the diverse cast of characters portrayed. It is essentially a retelling of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, but with a Kappa, a creature from Japanese folklore. I would have perhaps liked the origins of the Kappa to have been explored a little more, even just a small section either before or after the story (but it's easy enough to Google it).
The story is pleasant enough, but, like some other reviewers, I did find that it ended rather abruptly.

Thank you to Netgalley and Stefanie Gamarra for the opportunity to review in advance of publication.

A very cute and imaginative retelling of the boy who cried wolf! The art makes the text come alive and is really stunning. As a fan of Japanese Yokai, I was really drawn to both the title and the cover. I thought the text did an excellent job at describing what a kappa is to an audience that may be unfamiliar with their lore. I would have liked the text to be a bit longer and a bit more developed but it is definitely a wonderful story that I believe will spark interest in more Japanese Yokai stories in many of its readers!

It is a very creative re-invention of the Kappa story and it is kind of mixed with the shepherd that cried wolf. It is beautifully illustrated, but the way it is done does not sit very comfortably with me. I don't like the idea of taking a traditional story from another culture and then changing it like this. Sorry.

This was a quick story about a boy who keeps fairy tales alive even if no one believes him. I loved the art in this - it fits well with the story.

I know it’s a picture book but I did feel like the story arc fell a little flat at the end, I wanted a little more! Maybe there will be more stories about Kai and his creepy tales.

Kai and the Kappas is the kind of book that I was sure my son would love. I read it by myself first so I could see whether it would be appropriate for his age (four years old), and when I finished, I had already decided that I would read the book to him that same night, as part of our bedtime reading routine, before going to sleep.

I know my son very well, because not only did he love it, but he did what he loves to do even more than perhaps listening to stories: he drew. Need I say what? He drew a Kappa.

Kappa is a legendary Japanese creature, which I imagine parents told their children about to prevent them from playing in streams without any adult supervision. After all, the description claims a creature with armored skin like a turtle (some are even described as having a shell on their backs), frog-like fingers and a head shaped like a huge bowl, where the water that gives its powers and strength to create the currents of the water is contained.

I know, it sounds scary when you describe it like this, but this version is well suited for children ages 4 and up. The illustrations are very calm, with funny and cute scenes in the smallest details, and it also features a modern retelling of an Aesop tale about lying (The Boy Who Cried Wolf story).

My son loves learning about these mythological or legendary creatures, and it's always great to find books suitable for his age that fulfill this role. Besides the legendary part of the book, about the Kappas, another aspect of the narrative that I correctly imagined would please my son is the identification with the protagonist Kai, who, like my son, loves scary stories (age-appropriate, of course). I think it's very important to know from a small age already that there are stories that we can relate to more easily, especially because of the protagonists. It's a way to gradually build an understanding of representation, identity, but mainly to find your own voice.

For children who also really enjoy learning about mythological creatures, Kai and the Kappas is a great book. It will be released on March 20, 2025, when it will also be available on Kindle Unlimited for subscribers.

I really loved the art style of the illustrations in this book, which were done by Marta Pilosio. The story teaches the virtue of not lying (else when that thing happens to you, no one will believe you), but that’s a small part of the whole story. Based on Japanese folklore that Kai read about in his grandmother’s book, the kappas are creatures that live in rivers and streams—when Kai tells his friends about it they are all quite scared and the parents of the children reassure them that it is fictitious. But what happens when Kai meets a kappa by himself and no one comes to help him? Will he be clever enough to outsmart the kappa?

Overall a very fun read!

This story draws inspiration from classic fairytales and elements of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," but the author and illustrator have uniquely made it their own. Rather than focusing heavily on honesty lesson, the narrative seems to lean into themes of imagination and belief in the fantastical, offering a fresh perspective.
As noted in the description, this book is best suited for children at the upper end of the picture book age range because of its spooky—but not scary—elements.
The illustrations are truly stunning and add charm to the story.

It has such a similar storyline with the boy who cried wolf but the illustrations are cute and I love the fact that it has diversity among characters (both children and the villagers). However, even if book overall lokks like aiming preschoolers, I do not think it is suitable for them. First reason is that it has so many words to keep a preschoolers interested in in a page and second is that I think it is a bit too much creepy for them. I support that the idea we should introduce some scarier topics to the young ones pretty early on but I am not sure if it is a good idea to do it with illustrated books. But for the ones in elementery school, I think this book could work better.

Stunning illustrations.

Cute tale, similar to the boy who cried wolf at the beginning but then the story just kind of abruptly ended with no real resolution. It feels like there should be at least a few more pages.

It was okay. It has a similar message to The Boy Who Cried Wolf but with its own unique details.

I love the illustrations. The pages were stunning to look at. However, I did feel like the story ended abruptly.