This rapidly became my 6- and 7-year-old sons' favorite book. The art is amazing, the story is wonderful, and the lessons the reader learns about empathy are critical for every age group. In fact, I'm an English teacher in a high school, and as a model literary analysis during the first week of school, my freshmen and sophomores are going to analyze the theme of the story as an entry to our first unit of study. This book is absolutely an instant classic.