7 February 2021 BEST DAY EVER! by Marilyn Singer and Leah Nixon, ill., Clarion, May 2021, 32p., ISBN: 978-1-328-98783-9

“Bow-wow-wow-yippie-yo-yippie-yeah

Bow-wow-yippie-yo-yippie-yeah”

-- George Clinton, “Atomic Dog” (1982)

“Wake up happy, have a stretch.

Then I sniff the air.

Lick your face a bunch of times,

glad that we’re a pair.

Best day ever!”

“The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.”

--American Library Association website, “Schneider Family Book Award”

BEST DAY EVER! features a rambunctious little dog--a real handful--who has a loving boy owner. What is notable about this very fun picture book, written in verse, is that that boy spends his days in a wheelchair. 

When you ignore the dog and watch the boy, from page to page to page, you develop an understanding of what this particular fictional character can physically accomplish, which is a lot. Of course, there is also plenty he cannot do. The illustrator is a dog lover and artist who spends her days in a wheelchair. She has done an excellent job of portraying details of the boy’s abilities.

It is essential for educators to expose students to literature and other age-appropriate artistic expressions that enhance understanding of those who look, talk, or dress differently. Back when I was an early childhood educator, I always kept an eye out for such books to share at circle time. When children read or listen to books that depict people who are different from them, whether the difference is in skin color, family composition, religious garb such as hijabs, or people in wheelchairs, they come to feel more comfortable encountering such people in real life.

So, after young audiences get a kick out of the little dog chasing the cat, chasing the snake, knocking over the lamp, or rolling on a smelly dead fish and then jumping up into the boy’s lap, re-read them the story and have them focus on the boy. 

I also love the paw prints on the spine.

Richie Partington, MLIS

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