Wellie Wishers: The riddle of the robin by Valerie Tripp, illustrated by Thai Thu

Willa and her friends make up the Wellie Wishers. Together they play in Willa's Aunt Miranda's backyard and learn about nature and friendship. I picked one title from the series to try out and I have mixed feelings about it.

So, Willa and her friends are looking for signs of spring. They see a crocus and then a robin. They learn about what robins eat but when "their" robin disappears they go on a hunt to find it and get lost! Fortunately, they solve their problem and return to the playhouse, only to run into another problem when the robin is not happy to see them! Fortunately, they figure out that the robin has a special surprise. Back matter includes simply activities for parents to do with their daughters like making bird feeders and observing birds.

The illustrations are charming and colorful and young readers who are ready for longer chapter books but still want pictures will love these. They showcase strong female friendships and creative problem-solving as well as emphasize playing outside.

So, what's not to like? Well, first of all, and this really annoyed me, but they are looking for signs of spring, right? The first thing they find is a crocus and then a robin. Now, I'm looking out my window and I have crocuses and robins. What I DON'T have is summer flowers and green everywhere. It's also 30 degrees and nobody is wearing summer frocks. Even a mild winter, which would have the robins nesting in March, is not going to have the riot of color shown. This may seem very persnickety, but the book is supposed to be teaching kids about nature and the outdoors and it was very odd. Secondly, the "backyard" is more like a forest. They literally get lost in it and it's HUGE. While it's not wholly unbelievable, the average kid is not going to have access to a yard that appears to encompass at least an acre and includes a pond, playhouse, garden, free-ranging rabbit, theater, woods, and more. Thirdly, and this is a perennial complaint of mine, this features the typical representation of this type of story - one girl of each, white, black, Asian, and brown, but of course the white girl is the one whose aunt has the house, is in charge of the group, and while the stories don't seem to run in sequence this one has a "first" feeling.

Verdict: These will be popular. They do feature a diverse group of girls, they're attractive and interesting and the pictures are sweet. While they bother me in some minor aspects, I will probably overlook those and purchase these to add to my American Girl collection.

ISBN: 9781609587918; Published 2016 by American Girl; Borrowed from another library in my consortium