Aaron Meshon

A French Bulldog and his human sister spend an enjoyable day together in this fun picture-book for toddlers. From waking together to eating together, from playing in the park to going to the market, dog and girl engage in all the same activities, although each is tailored to their own particular needs...

With bright illustrations and a simple text - no more than a sentence per page - The Best Days Are Dog Days is a title ideally suited for the younger picture-book audience, especially those show more children who have a special canine friend. There is a New York setting here - there are brownstones in the family's neighborhood, and the Freedom Tower can be seen in the distance, placing the locale somewhere in Brooklyn, I would think - but it should appeal to a wide audience. I had the pleasure of meeting Chubu, the author's Frenchie, who served as the inspiration (together with the author's new baby) for this book, and he was adorable! Recommended to anyone looking for toddler and dog-friendly picture-books. show less

This book was pretty cute...a bunch of tools with adorable faces decide that they need to build a shed to keep themselves in so they're not always scattered around in the backyard.

I found it more interesting to read this book if you imagine it takes place in a world where everyday items have gained sentience and killed all the humans, and are now trying to figure out how to manage their new-found independence. The perpetual grins on all the formerly inanimate objects in the backyard becomes show more much more sinister when you imagine that the inside of the house is covered in blood and dead bodies. show less

A young boy with both Japanese and American grandparents goes to baseball games in each country. Opposing pages compare and contrast his experiences as he goes from home to the stadium, watches the game, has a snack, etc. Included in the descriptions are many Japanese words and the book features a short Japanese/English dictionary of relevant baseball words at the end.

I thought this picturebook was a really cute way to compare baseball in American to baseball in Japan. I loved that on the Japanese pages, the author included words and phrases in Japanese that are translated in the glossary. The language was very simple and the sentences were phrased similarly, so the reader could infer what the Japanese words meant based on the text from the American pages. For example, the American grandfather is called Pop Pop and the Japanese grandfather is called Ji show more Ji. I also really enjoyed the illustrations in this book. The American pages had more blue tones, where the Japanese pages included more red. There were clear differences in the pictures, but each picture was a variation of the other. For example, when discussing the food at an American baseball game the young boy had peanuts and hotdogs with a blue background, but at the Japanese baseball game he ate soba noodles and edamame with a red background. I really enjoyed this book and think it is a great way to incorporate other cultures through a familiar sport. show less