My Wife started reading this story to our daughter at bed time about a fortnight before her second birthday. At this age, of course, she didn't really understand the concept of 'birthday', but reading this book and talking about the pictures with her really helped her to understand what was happening when the actual day arrived. When the birthday cake came out with the candles, and all the family started to sing happy birthday, her face was a such a picture I hope I remember it forever! And the book . . . well, she refused to have any other story for weeks afterwards, until we bought some more Topsy and Tim stories. She now has one of the T&T books as her bed time story almost every night, and they are all aligned to the things that small children learn and enjoy - the park, the farm (great for learning animals and their sounds!) etc. I can't recommend these books enough, and they have great longevity because older children can read them when they are learning to read too.