When You Adopt a Pandarina (A When You Adopt... Book)

by Matilda Rose, Tim Budgen (Illustrator)

Overview

A sparkling picture book about trying your best and never giving up, thanks to an inspiring magical pet.
 
Next time you’re in Fairyland, make sure you visit Mrs Paws’s Haven for Magical Pets in the town of Twinkleton-Under-Beanstalk.

It’s truly an enchanting place. There are singing llamas, sparkly starwhals, snuffly pugicorns . . . and Pandarina!! That’s right! She’s a panda who loves to dance.
 
Princess Skye thinks that she is SO clumsy. There’s no way she can dance at Queen Elsie’s birthday ball with all her friends! But waiting for her at Mrs. Paws’s Haven for Magical Pets is a pet who might just change her mind . . .
 
Pandarina is a magical panda who loves to dance. Can Pandarina help Princess Skye find her feet?

This heartwarming series celebrates the joy and responsibility of caring for others, gently teaching young readers about empathy, friendship, and the magic of unconditional love.
 
When You Adopt series:
When You Adopt a Pugicorn
When You Adopt a Starwhal
When You Adopt a Pandarina
When You Adopt a Pugicorn: The Christmas Wish

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419757310
Publisher:	Abrams Appleseed
Publication date:	08/23/2022
Series:	When You Adopt A
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.45(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Matilda Rose is the author of the When You Adopt series, which includes Pugicorn, La-La-Llama, Pandarina, and more fun-filled adventures set in a fairy-tale world featuring different magical pets. With important messages about sharing, kindness, trying your best, and being yourself, the When You Adopt books combine sparkle, fun, and heart. Tim Budgen is a freelance illustrator and art teacher. He’s illustrated Pugicorn and the When You Adopt series, the Lizzie and Lucky series by Megan Rix, 20 Dinosaurs at Bedtime by Mark Sperring, and many more amazing children’s books. For much of his life he has been scribbling down ideas and can usually be found with a pencil in one hand and a sketchbook in the other. He lives by the sea on Hayling Island, England, with his wife, Julia.

Editorial Reviews

"A sweet, self-esteem–building pas de deux." 

— Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2022-05-11
Mrs. Paws’s Haven for Magical Pets comes through again.

Having in previous outings—When You Adopt a Starwhal (2020) and When You Adopt a Pugicorn (2021)—paired animals with children in need of life lessons, the perceptive proprietor of Twinkleton-Under-Beanstalk’s pet emporium has just the right companion to help clumsy, pale-skinned Princess Skye find her dancing feet before light brown–skinned Queen Elsie’s Birthday Ball—to wit, a rainbow-eared panda kitted out in ballet shoes and a pink tutu. Despite the outfit, though, Pandarina proves a total klutz both in and out of dance class…at least at first. But as Skye watches the persistent panda pick herself up after each spill and keep practicing, her despair changes to a matching determination to do likewise, and by the time the ball rolls around, she’s feeling good enough about her efforts that she’s even able to take a tumble in stride. Rose’s twinkly conclusion that “when you try your best and have fun, you’ll always be the star of the show” finds tonal equivalent in Budgen’s pastel-hued gatherings of cute magical creatures (including Starwhal and Pugicorn, in cameos) and ballet students who are not only racially diverse, but include a dancer who uses a wheelchair. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A sweet, self-esteem–building pas de deux. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews