Emily's Balloon

I had checked this book out of our local library, along with a myriad of others, and it became my daughter's favorite. She was 19 mths at the time, and really related to Emily and her yellow balloon. She loved it so much, it turned up for Christmas last year and still has a special place among her favorite stories. This is a wonderful little tale about the relationships little ones build with their favorite things. It's sweet, tender and even a bit sad - and our daughter relates to all the pieces (even giving Emily a hug and a kiss when she is sad at the end). I was originally drawn to the book because the illustrations remind me of many of my own children's books. I was pleasantly suprised to find out how new it is and look forward to more work from Sakai.

We bought this book because Emily, who appears to be about 18 months old-- her posture, short hair, simple language, deep attachment to inanimate friend-- reminded us of our own toddler at that age. The story and illustrations are lovely and bittersweet. I was worried that the story might be too sad, but our daughter (now 2.5) absolutely loves it. She asks to read it over, and over, and over . . .

This is a well-written story of a young toddler who spends the afternoon with her new yellow balloon. As any parent of a toddler will agree, balloons are such an amazingily simply toy for young ones to watch and enjoy. My young son had this simple text memorized after just two readings so I now get to enjoy him reading this one to me. Beautifully illustrated.

My 27-month old son is OBSESSED with balloons! I bought him this book when I got a call from his grandmother who told me his latest balloon had flown away. As soon as I showed it to him, the book became his best buddy. He wants us to read it to him all the time, he takes it with him wherever he goes. It's a beautiful book to look at and the simplicity of the story resonates with a toddler. I've never seen him react in such a way to anything (except, of course, an ACTUAL balloon). I have a feeling this will be a cherished book that he'll remember fondly years from now.

Simple illustrations make this tale perfectly suited to a toddler`s interest,even my 4 month-old baby love it!