Finding Family

Several years ago, a friend called to ask if I can take in two orphaned mallard ducklings she found at a park. I took them in even though I had no clue how to raise ducks. In the end, they kind of showed me the way. That summer, I probably hung out by a little creek behind my house all day, and every day watching them swim and find things to eat. It was such a joy. I cherish that experience to this day.

"Finding Family" is a lovely nonfiction book for children. I adore this book not only because of my love for mallards but because this shows how "love is blind". This is a true story that researchers witnessed in Wisconsin in 2019. These two species don't get along but the loon couple adopted a mallard duckling. I learned a lot about the differences between the two species. It's very educational and also a heartwarming story.

Finding Family
by Laura Purdie Salas, illus. by Alexandria Neonakis
A beautiful story of an odd animal family showing that even with our own differences we can connect to others, and that love knows nothing of difference. The young duckling being raised by loons shows what nature gives, and that love is universal.

This will be on my order list next month, as I loved the story, the illustrations, and the facts that both inspired the story as well as informed the reader about these birds that they may often see but not know much about. This is perfect for children who enjoy unlikely pairings of animals, and would be a great follow up to fiction books such as Make Way for Ducklings or Charlotte's Web.

I highly recommend this book for schools and libraries!

Finding Family is a wonderful children's book with a sweet story, educational information, and stunning illustrations.

My family loves loons. We have a lake house and every year, loons return to mate and raise their families. It's always so special seeing the babies grow and we look forward to seeing them return year after year.

When I saw Finding Family hit shelves, I knew I needed to own it and I'm so happy I did. This wonderful children's book is based on a true story of a loon pair that raised a mallard duckling. Heartwarming stories of animal species intermingle and thrive always make me so happy so I was especially drawn to this story knowing it was based on truth.

The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous, as evidenced by the cover. The colors are vivid and the detail is accurate and breathtaking.

This is a special story and one I will enjoy reading repeatedly with my son.

Thank you to Millbrook Press and NetGalley for the ecopy. This is one I definitely recommend purchasing in hard copy for your collection.

Ah, the sweetest story of a nature adoption! Lovely illustrations and story told in verse. Highly recommended picture book.

I loved the digital art/ paint brush strokes illustration style. I enjoyed learning at the end that this was based on a true story. A very heartwarming story about found family. This really resonated with me because I was adopted when I was younger. I love birdwatching, non-fiction, and art so this book hit every nail on the head for me. The information on the backstory and other nature facts were the icing on the cake!

Thank you to the publishers and Laura Purdie Salas for allowing me to view this book.

What a sweet beautiful story. I had no idea there was such a huge difference between ducks. The ending of the book that explains “the real story” is so cute. I could have done with out the dates during the story as they didn’t add any benefit.

Loons are one of my birding goals and I hope to some day be able to see them in real life while hearing their calls in the wild. The thought about a loon couple raising a duck really interested me, which is why I chose this book and hoped that it was actually based on real events.

Fortunately it is most definitely based on real events while the dates on the pages reflect on the date for the reports that were being referenced. Furthermore in the back of the book is an actual whole page dedicated to telling a bit more about the events that unfolded in the story. Furthermore there is also an additional paragraph that goes into detail about a certain event in the story for those who may want to know more as well as a Venn diagram comparing as well as contrasting the two species.

<i>Finding Family</i> is written with a bunch of text but basically composed with simple sentences that focus on the characters in the family. As such young readers may need some assistance with words but it should be otherwise a very simple read.

And what to me is simply amazing is the artwork itself. Beautiful, soft at times, magical and colorful the reader will be taken into this natural landscape of Wisconsin as they are brought into this amazing family story.

This will be one amazing treasure to have on your shelves and to share with family, especially when everyone needs just that bit of a reminder that family is truly magical even if it may not be
the family that you were wanting and that adaptability is never too far out of grasp.

**I received a free copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**

The story is incredibly well done and illustrated. After this almost incredible tale are explanations and teaching moments followed by imminently respectable bibliography and further reading that truly support the veracity of this incredible time in the lives of a few of our favorite avian friends.
The illustrations by Alexandria Neonakis are nearly realistic, looking like the Northwoods I know, and love!
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to anyone, but especially to a school or your public library!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Lerner Publishing Group/Millbrook Press ™ via NetGalley. Thank you!
Disclaimer: I live in Wisconsin and also love Duluth, MN.

This book was great for my 3 year old. The illustrations were beautiful, and the story kept her interest and also had a good message.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. A true story about a pair of loons who lose their eggs to an animal and end up raising a mallard duckling.

**Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for an ARC copy of this book. This is my honest review**

When I worked as a national park interpretation ranger, I was designing a program for families educating about our local loons. At the time, loon-based literature was difficult to find, especially in a short enough format to fit into our program. This book would have been a fantastic resource!

The illustrations were beautiful and it read smoothly. I loved that the author didn't try to make up an ending but honestly said "we don't know what happened but that's okay." It was a great, kid-friendly telling of a true event. Also I appreciated the backmatter where we got more information about the true story and also about loon behavior. The only thing I would have added was some information about not disturbing or chasing loons. Disturbances such as kayakers, swimmers, fireworks, and boats are a big cause of loon parent's abandoning their nests or needing to lure away these dangers and leaving the nest exposed to predators.

I would definitely pick this book up for my own library or give it as a gift to any animal loving family/child.

A cute story for kids. The art was awesome, and I liked the way the words went. The story mostly suited for young kids and it is nice to find out that a different species of bird is raising another species.

This is a gorgeous nonfiction book. I loved the poetic (but not rhyming) language. I think this would be great to read aloud to elementary age children. It had everything I wanted including information and a photo of the real life animals and more information to explore about mallards and loons.