My 2.75 year old son loves this book, and I love reading it with him. He loves the silliness of their interplay and enjoys the drama and suspense of the lionesses.I love that while it is simple enough for him to "read" and enjoy on his own as the words are just sounds and pretty clearly indicated by the facial expressions and body language of the characters, there are words and plenty of action to talk about so I'm not searching for new words/ways to explain the SAME THING FOR THE BAJILLIONTH TIME as I am with the Good Dog, Carl books. We also love David Weisner's books (Flotsam, Mr. Wuffles), but the simplicity of these illustrations, clarity of emotions and story progression seem less intimidating so my son is more actively engaged in the story instead of just passively listening to me explain the action or panel details-- he likes to make the sounds too, and because the emotions are so clearly communicated, he really seems to "get it" on his own and empathize with the characters. I even took pictures of him while we read it one night because it was so fascinating to me to see him reflecting it all (laughing at them teasing each other, hands between knees with a concerned face while they were hiding from the lionesses).Not to get too touchy-feely, but I also really like all the conversations about emotions and "playing nice" that this has sparked. Some of it might be over his head, but I think it's helpful and as a mom whose kid is in a phase where he seems to be more into toys than people, it's nice to have something to reinforce the "a friend just wants to play with you" concept without playing the Daniel Tiger video and having to deal with the video withdrawal. ;)