This was a really sweet book. I will warn that there is some animal death(baby ducks die) in it, so if you have sensitive kids beware of that. Overall, this was a great story of a little girl and her friend who rescue duck eggs and attempt to hatch them. They talk a lot about the process of raising animals and the trials and dedication it takes. The characters are determined and I love that the parents are supportive. The family in this story has a farm and so a lot of it is centered around farm life. It is a great story. ( )

I always loved the Sophie books by Dick King-Smith, but sadly acknowledged that they were too old and, well, British for the kids in my small town to take interest in them and weeded them some years ago. I requested these galleys because I knew kids love pretty much any animal rescue beginning chapter books and you cannot imagine the delight I felt when they turned out to be a more contemporary, true-to-life Sophie!

Jasmine Green's mom, Nadia, is a veterinarian and her dad is a farmer, primarily of sheep. She has an older sister, Ella, who is usually absorbed by homework and a little brother, Manu, who spends most of his time playing with his best friend Ben who lives across the road. Jasmine loves animals of all kinds, but especially pigs. When she accompanies her mom on a trip to a calving, she is admiring a newly litter of piglets when she finds a runt. Mr. Carter, the grouchy farmer, has no time for a runt, so Jasmine sneaks it home. She works hard to care for the piglet and, against all expectations, he grows and thrives. But will Jasmine be able to keep Truffle against her mom's objections about stealing and her dad's firm rule of no pigs on their farm?

In her second rescue venture, Jasmine has an altercation with the stuck-up Bella Bradley, who allows her dog to run loose in their field of sheep. Upon investigation, the dog also killed a mallard, leaving its nest and the surviving eggs alone. With the help of her friend Tom and his aunt's incubator, Jasmine rescues and cares for the eggs, but one is broken by her little brother and another dies after hatching. Will she manage to save one duckling?

Attractive black and white sketches decorate the books, showing lots of adorable animals and a sturdy, dark-skinned girl and her family who are loving and absorbed in the life of their family and their farm. The books are kind and warm, but not sentimental about animals. Adults are considerate of Jasmine's love of animals but realistic; Mr. Carter may be grouchy, but he wants the best for his animals and Jasmine's mom supports Jasmine in her grief over the eggs that don't hatch or survive.

There is also a strong realistic aspect to the stories, from the eggs not all surviving (having hatched chicks in the library many times this is definitely true) to Jasmine getting colostrum from her mother's cupboard to help her pig. While Jasmine does have an anger-fueled battle with Bella, she also has the support of her parents and the school authorities, who see that Bella faces consequences for her illegal actions in letting her dog roam and destroy a nest of protected mallards (and she gets punched by Jasmine for dropping Button the duckling, a scene of comeuppance which all kids will appreciate!).

Verdict: Jasmine is an intelligent, empathetic, and determined girl who is a great role-model for young animal lovers. A must-have addition to your beginning chapter sections, even if your primary audience is urban. They will love this glimpse of life and animals on a farm and the diversity is a welcome touch to what is often an all-white industry.

A piglet called Truffle
ISBN: 9781536214598
A duckling called Button
ISBN: 9781536214581

Published March 2020 by Walker Books US; Galleys provided by the publisher for review; Purchased for the library

This very sweet picture book was a good read for my 4 year old who found it to be a new favorite of his. The illustrations are done in a classic manner and brought back memories of the Golden Book Series. ( )

This is a cute story about a young duck on a farm who saves and helps other animals on the farm. It has a great story about friendship, while also including good information that is accurate about the life cycle and development of ducks. The story about the fire might be a little much for some really young readers or if reading this as a bedtime story but, could potentially help a child who has experienced a fire at home to understand that they aren't the only ones to have experienced it. Looking forward to checking out other books in this series as they come out. ( )

Going to give me review of this from 2 perspectives - What a child might like, versus an adult

Child - Jasmine lives on a farm and defends and saves animals from a dire fate. After a duck is killed, she and her friends need to find a way to save the lives of her ducklings - and will do anything necessary to do so. Not only must she save the lives of ducks, but she has to battle a school bully at the same time. It is a story about ingenuity, drive, and the heart to protect animals at all costs.

Adult - Jasmine has a girl at school she dislikes, Bella, who is portrayed as a mean girl. Bella's dog is off his leash and kills a mother duck, so Jasmine and her brother and friend try to save the eggs she left behind. Jasmine says Bella is evil for her dog being off the leash, yet she champions ducks being free, so basically dogs are evil and who cares about their freedom, when the entire point of the book is Jasmine is an animal activist. Not only that, but Jasmine's family call the police on Bella, a child, for her dog being off the leash. Don't call her parents, but try to get the girl a criminal record - because her dog killed a duck.

So Jasmine and her brother and friend take care of some of the eggs. Some of them make it, some of them don't. One even is crushed, but they don't call the police there. Guess it's just Bella who has consequences. Then there is a fire and naturally Jasmine is a super human. There is some interesting information on the life cycle of ducks and eggs. I imagine it's a decent enough book for kids, but the values were odd to me. If the point was never let your dog off a leash or someone will call the police on you, never touch eggs because you will likely kill animals and if you are lucky one might make it, and parents are useless if a fire breaks out, then this book definitely succeeded. ( )