posted on 24 Jun 2024

This is Happy by Anna Ross, illustrated by Debi Gliori

We all need a bit of positive affirmation in these troubled times so I was interested to see how the subject could be approached with very young children in mind. Adults sharing the book will also be reminded of the joy that can be found in simple everyday experiences like jumping in puddles, dancing and star gazing on a dark night.

The powerful message at the start of the book is happiness can be described in many different ways:

‘We just have to slow down, pause and find our Happy.’ 

Five very different families are shown at the beginning of the book enjoying spending time together and then a child from each one continues the theme, presumably in a nursery or school setting, painting rainbows and planting seeds. Then follows one of my favourite illustrations that shows two babies and a dog ecstatically smelling the earth after rain – an all-encompassing sensuous pleasure. 

As I looked at the different pictures with a group of three-year-olds it was interesting to see how the various experiences chimed with their own. When she saw the children paddling in the sea with their mother, a girl exclaimed: ‘I did that with my brother and it was so splashy and warm!’

In response to another delightful illustration, a boy commented quietly that he also loved to lie on the grass looking at ladybirds and other insects in the long grass. 

Getting wet and muddy is not for everyone, but this story makes it look like tremendous fun, and certainly nothing to worry about because the children look very smiley. I was more the kind of child who liked to travel to faraway places via books at bedtime so I was pleased to see that this was also recommended:

‘You can go on adventures without leaving the bed!’

Whatever your preference as a child or adult, the depictions of warm and loving families will reassure you that there is plenty to be happy about. I can see that it could be used as a starting point for lots of interesting conversations and delightful art work with children in classrooms and at home.

I  recommend this feel- good picture book from a ‘rising star author and an acclaimed illustrator’ published by Otter-Barry Books which should be available from your local independent bookshop – who will be happy to order it for you if they don’t have it on their shelves.

Karen Argent

June 2024