Make Every Day Special: A Book Review Parents Need

Best Day Ever (2025) by Frank Tupta and Lindsay Ward is a picture book that personifies the days of the week, teaching children ages 3-7 about self-acceptance and the dangers of overextending. When Monday feels underappreciated, the other days try switching roles—only to discover they’re happiest being themselves.

Each month, Amazon Kindle First Reads offers a small selection of books to check out, and it rarely has children’s books. This October, they finally provided me with something charming, and I wanted to share the book.

What Best Day Ever Is About

The husband-and-wife team of Frank Tupta and Lindsay Ward created this cute and entertaining book about the days of the week as characters from a daily planner. They each appreciate the events on their individual days, but poor Monday is flustered that no one respects its planning efforts.

The other days of the week convince Monday to relax rather than give up. Monday agrees, and everyone decides to switch things up for themselves. Sunday wants a little more excitement. Wednesday intends to get “wild.” Thursday wouldn’t mind a special activity that rhymes with its name.

Things start alright, but soon, each day realizes it’s difficult to be something they’re not. They soon come to appreciate their daily routine. They especially miss Monday’s ability to plan and keep things organized.

I don’t think I could tell you what the best day of the week is, but this children’s book made me rethink Mondays. Best Day Ever (affiliate link) also made me smile with its unique concept, which is another reason I wanted to share it with young readers and parents looking for a book to help their kids deal with busy schedules and self-esteem.

Writing and Genre

Frank Tupta is the author of How to Build a Haunted House, illustrated by Kyle Beckett, and Christmas Under Construction, illustrated by Josh Cleland. Frank does a great job personifying each day of the week with their special flavor of activities. Some days are just busier than others. Frank comes up with realistic events that kids can relate to. Tuesday may be a day we eat tacos, but what is Thursday best known for? Even when a fabulous, fun day like Friday doesn’t think things need changing, it steps up to help. He also has a fun and innocent sense of humor that plays out in many of the characters.

The age-appropriate sentences and common language make it easy to read and understand. I instantly started applying different voices to each character, which would make this book even more fun to read aloud.

Illustrations and Visual Style

Lindsay Ward, an author and illustrator of over thirty books for kids, created the illustrations. They are fun and engaging, with a comic-book-style layout that flows over the page. Colors are pleasing to look at and help identify each day. The background agenda, with various scheduled events, keeps the active daily images grounded and ties the reader back to a calendar theme.

I enjoyed how she created small scenes for each character that follow their own mini-arcs. The simple line-drawn facial expressions capture the character’s moods without overdoing it. Many of the illustrations display a similar sense of humor to her husband’s.

Written for ages 3 – 7 years, Best Day Ever (affiliate link) is an adorable book that effectively teaches kids that it’s okay to lean into their natural strengths rather than trying to be someone they’re not, and to avoid overextending themselves. With engaging illustrations and relatable characters, it’s perfect for back-to-school season when schedules get hectic.