Your Day Will Change the World by Shigenori Kusunoki, Taku Furuyama and Chigusa Theresa Hanaoka is a lovely children's book told in both Japanese and English about a traveller who teaches people wherever he goes that they can make the world a better place.

The book contains two stories with beautiful watercolour pictures to accompany. This is a book detailing a simple yet powerful tool of positive psychology and mindfulness. The book explores gratitude and kindness, and explains how your thoughts can shape your emotions and then your behaviour and life. As a psychology graduate, I really liked this idea explored in a book for children.

This book is listed as a children’s book, however, it did not feel like that for me as I was reading it as the English didn’t flow as easily as it should in a book meant for children. There are ten questions which are covered at the end of the book and mentioned throughout the book. One example is how you can brighten the lives of others? The questions are an interesting addition to the book that would prompt an encouraging conversation with a child. However, they are a little confusing and and I feel it would be much simpler if the ten questions were just listed in English at the end as a resource.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give my own, honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a sweet children's book. This was so lovely, and the art style was absolutely beautiful. I'm so glad I got to read this.

Your Day will Change The World was an interesting read. It is listed as a children’s book, though it did not have that feel for me. The English didn’t flow like a book meant for kids’. It is also in Japanese, though, and I cannot speak as to the kid-friendly language there. The book contains two stories, illustrated with watercolour pictures. This is a book detailing a simple yet powerful tool of positive psychology/ mindfulness. It is a book about gratitude and kindness, and shows how your thoughts shape your emotions which shape your reality, and how positivity can be passed on. It is a bit simplistic to say that positivity alone can help my day change the world. It takes a great deal more positivity to negate negativity on a psychological level. I cannot recall the exact ratio, but I think it is 5 positives to balance 1 negative. Because our brains are fun like that.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and PHP Institute for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The author himself was diagnosed with a severe cerebral infarction in 2004 when he was a teacher. The reason why he was sad and afraid in his bed was that he was alive and loved by the people around him. Later on, he realized the importance of being happy and how he can positively impact on his friends, family, his loved one, and so on. He also realized the positive energy that each one of you has would make the world into a better one. He emphasizes the fact that the world is all connected even though we all live apart. This is the reason why he became the author of this book and dedicate his life to the children's books to spread his idea.

This book is something that you should read and put the idea into your mind, especially during this difficult time under the COVID-19, people have become more selfish than before. You will reassure the value of your life and your conscience that affects people around you. 5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and PHP Institute, Inc. for making this title available for free in exchange for an honest review.

I will start with the positives. The art is beautiful. The colors and style are soft and well matched to the ideas and feel of the text in the book. Even though the description of the of book reads in part, "young and old can get some hints to live a better day," I don't think many people older than elementary school children would get much out of this book. But, I do think older elementary school students might get something out of the second half of this book.

The first half of the book was hard to get through because it felt so repetitive. I feel that it could have been condensed into 1 or at most 2 pages and the book would not have lost any important information. The second half of the book was less repetitive. And while it strikes me as a bit idealistic, I don't think there's anything wrong in teaching children the ideals we hope to live by. While I think the questions in the second half of the book could help some aspects of the world to become better, I am not fully convinced that this is the one answer on how to create a better world. But, it could be a step.

Also, while the translation was over all well done, it did bother me that an adult female was called a 'girl' in the English translation.

To be fully honest, without the art, I'd probably give this book 2 stars. But, if the first half were taken out, I'd probably give it 3.5.

A lovely story about making the best of each day and taking life as it comes. Illustrations were nice enough. Found it being in duel language nice. However the story itself didnt wow me, although being nice enough.

A sweet and simple book about what you can do to make your life and the world around you better. It asks ten questions that would make your day better if you answer them everyday. The book is in both Japanese and English, with beautiful watercolor-like illustrations. I loved it, and its simplicity was like a breath of fresh air.

I like the concept of this book. It points out that even if you are just one person on a planet of over 7 billion, you can still impact your day and influence others by your own attitude. And there are 10 questions that you can regularly ask yourself to check your own mood and attitude for the day. And I like the story of the man who had learned about this and sought to teach others all about it in his travels. I appreciate the details in the watercolor illustrations. And I do love books that are written in more than one language, side by side, to encourage language learning.

But I felt like there were two different books going on at the same time. There was the general concept that the traveler learned from the wise Japanese man printed at the top of the page in one font. And then the story of what the traveler was doing with this information was printed directly underneath in a different font. Yes, the different fonts help to offset the two ideas, but they're too close together for me and it didn't make as much sense. I think I would have liked it better with the "two stories" separated more, like the wise Japanese man's story at the top and then the traveler's story at the bottom. The different fonts would continue to help set them apart a bit.

And then you get to the next part about The Ten Questions. We are now introduced to yet another person who is moved by the concept. At the top of each page, you have a question with an explanation. And then directly underneath you have the story of the young man applying these concepts, again in the different fonts. It still felt like two different stories and the two sections did not flow together well for me. In this part, I almost want The Ten Questions introduced with their explanations as a whole and then followed up with the story of how the young man applied them in his life as a whole, instead of together on the same page.

The book is geared toward the older middle grades. It is definitely abstract enough that this would be the youngest group for whom I would recommend the book. I think it would be best to use this as a source for further discussions and it is not necessarily one that a child is going to absorb the concepts on his own while reading independently. And I do think that adults could benefit from contemplating these Ten Questions on a regular basis themselves.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a requested review copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a beautiful illustrated book with a really touching message. Encouraging the reader to take a mindful approach and showing how one person's actions can make all the difference, this is a really uplifting book.

Written in book Japanese and English, sometimes the translation feels a little clunky or repetitive but otherwise a really fantastic book.

This could have been an amazing comic but it somehow managed to be boring. Although the subject is very cool, I think it is wasted by the unreadable style. The drawings are extremely beautiful, and it adds so much to the story.

This is a sweet children's book told in Japanese and English about a traveler who teaches people wherever he goes that they have the power to make the world better. There are references to ten questions which are covered at the end, such as whether you are smiling and how you can brighten the lives of others. The questions at the end are sometimes a little confusing and seem to repeat one question twice (are you smiling?). It would be very helpful if the ten questions were just listed in English at the end as a resource. A nice message and soft watercolor art make this a good book for kids and adults, though kids are not likely to necessarily enjoy it a whole lot or ask for it again and again.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

Your day will change the world is a book with simple but important messages. These messages are simple reminders that we might have forgotten or have slipped from our mind in this age of complicated events. There is a story that accompanies the message “your day will change the world”. In addition to that, there are also 10 questions that enrich and enhance said message. The writing is easy to understand, perfect for children to read, but also a fast and good read for anyone else.

Besides, there are also beautiful watercolour illustrations done by Taka Furuyama that make the whole reading experience much more pleasant and, in my case, invokes nostalgia brought from reading books with a similar type of illustration from my childhood, which is a nice touch.

When we come away from the book, we’re encouraged to ask the question “what can we do to make our day shine”? It’s a question that carries a lot of weight, because after all, our day will change the world.

This is not exactly a children book, it is more something to read and to think about, even if it could be misunderstood for a children book due to the drawings and the strange was the Japanese author has to tell his story. Very sweet in the end.

Questo non é un libro per bambini, anche se la copertina e i disegni potrebbero trarci in inganno. Inoltre il modo dell'autore (giapponese) di raccontare questa storia e di farci riflettere su alcuni punti, é molto particolare. Molto dolce alla fine.

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

During the times of uncertainty and fear due to what’s happening at the moment in the world this book is a breath of fresh air and has come into the world at the perfect time. I loved the ethos behind this story and the whole book just made me smile. This is about setting positive intentions for the day because of you can follow the ten questions in a day and teach others the whole world can benefit. Your day can change the world.