Gaston (Gaston and Friends) Hardcover – Picture Book, June 3, 2014

This book is beautifully illustrated. However, I have trouble with the messages in this story. There are two doggie families and one bulldog and one poodle puppy end up with the "wrong" family, presumably exchanged at birth. When both families of dogs meet at the park, they realise that something looks wrong, and they switch the poodle and the bulldog pup to their original dog moms.However, the bulldog and the poodle do not fit that well anymore with their biological families, where they haven't been raised. So the next time they all see each other in the park, they switch the dogs back to the non-biological dog parents.Obviously, in most children books, animals stand for people (because the dogs themselves would not be doing any of this complicated switching), so it makes me wonder: what is the "message" of this book? Someone might find it "funny" (I'm not sure why, except for the names of the dogs or the images), but it's clear that this books is trying to have a message. Is the message that, no matter what you look like, you belong with the people who raise you and take care of you? Is this then just a story aimed at adopted children? If that's the case, how would they appreciate this message? Because both dog families do realise that something looks really wrong (when the dogs are still switched), and when they switch them back to their adoptive families - we can assume it still looks wrong - but it "feels right." I see no good way out of this.Frankly, I'm getting exasperated with many of these children's stories. There should be more control over the content in terms of really qualified editors/psychologists, etc. These books affect our children's thoughts and feelings on many important issues. We all know how much they soak up.I read this book to my toddler today, who was luckily too young to get into the plot. I'l have to return this, even though I regret this only because of the beautiful quality of the paper and illustrations.

Not only does our baby love the story being read to her and the colorful pictures, my Husband loves reading the story. It’s fun for the whole family and really is a great story about blended families and acceptance. It’s reads smoothly and actually has a full storyline in a shorter book which is refreshing from a lot of kids books that on the last page leave you going “huh?”Gaston and his friends/family are adorable and quite the characters. We enjoyed so much, we ordered the Antoinette book which was just as much fun. We sent a copy of the book to our Nephew, as we knew he would enjoy these books so much too! This is now our “go to” gift for children.

We love this book. The story line is just cute and fun. The illustrations are beautiful. I would definitely recommend this book to others. My 6 and 2 year old love it.The spin was a little damaged on arrival.

I purchased this as a gift for a friend, but she has since emailed me on two different occasions letting me know how much she loves this story. In fact, she says it is her favorite children's book!I bought this specific book for my friend because she has a white French Bulldog that looks just like the dog on the cover of this book. Honestly, I didn't even know the story was about a French Bulldog! My friend, and her daughter, absolutely love this story though, and not just because their dog looks like Gaston. She said it's a sweet story that they have already read multiple times.Based on my friend's response, I would say this book is a must-have for French Bulldog owners... and anyone else. :)

Super cute story line. Simple, but engaging illustrations! I love this book! Inadvertently, it's good for counting, if your child is learning numbers, and also delighting in and noticing "differences" between pictures, too. I'm an adult, who wanted to gift this book to a toddler and her mother, but chose to keep it for my own collection!French Bulldog and/or Poodle owners; all pet owners and non, will love this book!

Easy to read book with your toddlermy daughter love it, one of his favoriteIt doesn't provide a great message but is fun to read.

My boys (5 and 2) love this book. It’s one of their favorite reads. Beautiful story and a great message for kids.

Silly children's book about a poodle in a bulldog family and a bulldog in a poodle family :) I purchased Gaston along with Antoinette for my friend's baby (they are French Canadian). She loves that Antoinette has some french and that both stories take place in Paris. They both have sweet endings

I got this for my grand-daughter and she loves it

I love the illustrations by Christian Robinson so buying this book was a must. Such quirky playful characters and narrative.

I absolutely love this book!

Gaston (a dog) realises he is different than the rest of his family and thinks he doesn't fit in and then one day he meets his biological family in the park and goes to live with them but realises he doesn't fit in with them but his family is his adopted family. He stays in contact with his biological family and it is a happily ever after story that my granddaughters love because it the message is let your children be who they are and love is what matters not biology - one of my granddaughters is biological and one is adopted and that is what I have always told them is it didn't matter. We stumbled across this book that just reinforced the message I have been telling all their lives and we love it!

Dois filhotes são trocados. Gaston é a história de como os filhotes e as famílias resolvem esse erro, mostrando a importância do amor entre seus membros e das escolhas que parecem certas e as que são realmente certas. A liberdade individual também é um dos temas abordados.A escrita é leve e surpreendente, contém algumas brincadeiras com as palavras, deixando-a mais divertida.As ilustrações são muito interessantes. Os personagens são delimitados pelas partes não pintadas do papel. Ficou com um estilo bem legal.