Otto is sad but his hopes are raised whenever he sees a friend come by with a treat ... except it turns out that every time it's not a treat for him. Will Otto's bad day ever turn around?

This was a super fun book for the youngest of listeners as a read aloud or for beginner readers working on sounding out words on their own. Each page has a short declarative sentence that follows a pattern, such as "See Otto feel sad," and others also have a dialogue bubble that also follows a pattern, such as "I LOVE pie!" The repetition will appeal to kids listening to the story read aloud and will ease the reading process for beginning readers, as will the occasional rhyming words.

Personally, I loved that the book tackles emotional intelligence, even if it's only two basic emotions (sadness and gladness). And never fear, all's well that ends well in this story about friendship and kind gestures.

The illustrations are crisp and sharp with thick black outlines for characters set against a white backdrop. There are no extraneous details to distract, while the emotions and movements are clearly depicted. ( )