BOOK REVIEW: If I Had a Gryphon by Vikki VanSickle

Working at a public library has many, many perks. One of them being that my bank account is grateful for the break from spending copious amounts of money on books. I've gotten very interested in the idea of book reviewing lately (I mean, why not?), and ran across a website called NetGalley where people who recommend books to other people (librarians, bloggers, educators, etc) can have access to free digital galleys of books in exchange for honest reviews.

Without further ado, here is my first NetGalley review.

*Disclaimer- I received a free eBook copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.*

If I Had a Gryphon by Vikki VanSickle

Description from Amazon: "Sam just got a hamster for a pet. But the hamster is kind of boring ... he just eats and sleeps and gets his shavings wet. Inspired by her book of mythological creatures, Sam longs for a more exciting pet. But she soon realizes that taking care of these magical beasts might not be as wonderful as she thought. Sasquatches are messy, unicorns are shy, gryphons scare the dogs at the dogpark, and having a fire extinguisher handy at all times makes dragons seem like an awful lot of work. In the end, Sam realizes that her hamster is a pretty sweet and safe pet ... or is he? 
If I Had a Gryphon is a raucous rhyming read-aloud about fantastical beasts in everyday situations--and the increasingly beleaguered heroine who has to deal with them."

Seriously, how cute is this illustration?

Honest review: I LOVED this book, and can't wait to get a copy for our nephews! It combines whimsical rhymes with illustrations so gorgeous that I wouldn't mind having as art prints in a kids room. My only complaint about the eBook version that I viewed was that the formatting was all kinds of weird. Some letters were all strung together and others were too far apart (see screenshot on the left). Here's hoping that it's worked out in the final version, for the sakes of other people who were trying to view it on devices! I was using my MotoG though, so the small size may have made a difference. All in all, this was a fun, quick book, that I'll be recommending to our library for purchase, as well as adding it to my running list of good books for kids!