Book Highlight: Woof Woof Meow Meow Bus & Tweet Tweet Home Delivery (Set of 2) • 汪汪喵喵巴士 & 噗噗啾啾宅急便

Here's another gem that I don't think gets talked about much, and are great for those young readers who are just graduating from board books into paper books!

When I first bought these, I totally judged these books by their cover. The titles felt a little weird (at least for someone with a Cantonese background who is not in tune with modern lingo). I also don't think these are super well-known or oft reviewed, so there wasn't much info on it.

I mostly purchased them based on the cover illustrations of ~vehicles~, which I knew my eldest was into.

I'm glad I did cause my son LOVED them. These are books we've had for over a year now, and we still read it today.

For those that may not know, 宅急便 is the name of a Japanese delivery company (I initially thought it was related to "urgent poops"... or something 😅).

That company is SO dominant in delivery market there, that 宅急便 is pretty much synonymous with delivery service. Kinda like Zamboni is for "ice resurfacing machine", or Kleenex is for tissues 😜

These books are great for early picture book readers. They're simple and formulaic, with lots of repetition. It kinda reminds me of Little Snake's Rumbling Belly (小蛇肚子咕嚕嚕) by Tatsuya Miyanishi, but the art probably appeals more to a wider audience (Miyanishi is a great storyteller, but his artistic style can be an acquired taste imo).

This author, Michiko Egashira's soft pastel watercolour palette is beautiful. Plus the DETAIL and little Easter eggs she puts into each spread is amazing.

In the 宅急便 book, she drew a clock inside every animal's home, and it advances 15 minutes at each subsequent delivery stop. I dunno... details like this indicate to me lots of pride in craftsmanship ♥️

The endings in both books are also really sweet. I would highly recommend!

You can order it here: Woof Woof Meow Meow Bus & Tweet Tweet Home Delivery (Set of 2) • 汪汪喵喵巴士 & 噗噗啾啾宅急便