One Busy Day: Fostering Positive Sibling Relationships

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes from Disney Hyperion Publishing. As always, all opinions and experiences are my own. *This post contains affiliate links

“All Mia wants is for her big brother, Spencer, to play with her. But he’s always too busy. With a little imagination and a lot of love, Mia might just be able to show Spencer that it’s a lot more fun to be busy together.”

One Busy Day: A Story for Brothers & Sisters (written by Lola M. Schaefer & illustrated by Jessica Meserve) is a follow up to One Special Day: A Story for Big Brothers & Sisters. I won One Special Day at the perfect time. I was pregnant with baby brother and we were doing our best to foster a positive sibling relationship for our boys. It’s not difficult to make me cry and the beautiful story of Spencer becoming a big brother to baby Mia had me in tears. The rambunctious and rowdy Spencer reminded me of our lil man. The book foreshadowed the moment my boys met each other and the calm and quiet that came over Aiden when he held his baby brother.

Spencer has grown up and so has Mia. We’re about 2 years later in this book and Mia has the same energy and imagination as her big brother. All Mia wants is to play and explore with her brother; Spencer just wants to play on his own. Books about siblings often leave me flustered, portraying a model of the older sibling annoyed and pushing their younger sibling aside.

This book models and shows the relationship as it grows. How the inquisitive Mia engages with her brother and how their relationship grows into lots of fun and giggles. One of my favorite parts of the book are the little story excerpts in the front and back. The simple words and pictures that give a snapshot of the book. Aiden loves to end the book by giving me a synopsis of the story. A book that depicts a positive sibling relationship and engages children in storytelling.

The story of One Busy Day is beautiful, but the illustrations are even more stunning. The words guide it, but the pictures truly tell the story. The pair of books have quickly been a favorite of the whole family.