I liked this book after reading it. I liked the book because the illustrations enhanced the story and were appropriate to the mood of the story. The illustrations used bright pastel colors to attract the audience and helped enhance the story as one is reading. The illustrations help to show what else happens in the story that is not explicitly written in the text. For example, on page 8, Muddypaws is eating the sausages off of the table. However, the text does not say Muddypaws does this. The text just says, "'Bad dog!' scolded Ben's mom, and shooed him outside" (pg. 8). This shows how the illustrations enhance the story by contributing factors that are not written in the text. The illustrations helped to complete the story and made the story flow easier. I also liked the language in the text. The language is descriptive, but simple for a young audience to follow. For example, as the children are running into the party, the author describes this by writing, ". . . and the front yard was filled with stamping feet, new smells, and loud voices" (p. 11). This language is descriptive so that a young audience can envision what this would look like because the language is appropriate for the targeted audience. The language helps the audience envision the story in their minds. The big message of this book focuses on friendship and how important friends are. ( )