posted on 01 Oct 2024

Happy Days: 365 facts to brighten every day of the year by Emily Coxhead

We review an awful lot of children’s books with important but sober content ranging from exploring feelings of sadness, jealousy and loneliness, to how to cope with difficult experiences like moving house and the death of a much-loved grand-parent. As a welcome contrast, this is the second cheerful offering from an author who ambitiously hopes ‘to put a smile on your face every day of the year’. I was delighted to spend some time browsing the vibrant illustrations throughout the book that showed the light-hearted side of life - and there's one for  every day of the year.

I decided to take a closer look at some personal key dates to see whether the relevant pages made me feel happy.

I was pleased to see that 31st January is one of the few pages that has just one illustration showing three cheerful gorillas playing music with the relevant fascinating fact:

‘A group of Gorillas is called a Band (or a troop, or a whoop)’. 

I was astonished to learn on the 21st April that:

‘The water in Lake Hillier, Australia is completely pink.’

My daughter and grandson will be intrigued to learn that their birthdays on 28th June are celebrated by the bold fact, this time unadorned by any picture:

‘Everyone’s tongue print is as unique as their fingerprints’.

That all important day of 25th December shows a man floating in space wearing a Santa hat:

‘Jingle Bells was the first song played in space, when it was broadcast on a space flight in 1965’.

I couldn’t help wondering how the selection of facts was made and how to decide which ones deserved a picture, a whole page or to share a page with up to two other days – perhaps these choices were linked to significant dates in the author’s life?

I can see how this information packed picture book could be used on a daily basis at home and in school, or looked at for fun, picking out relevant dates. Children might even be challenged to find out how many dates relate to animals as this seems to be a predominant theme. The bold and varied fonts used in all the text alongside the many comic book style illustrations would provide plenty of inspiration for related art work. For instance, it could be used to make some personalised books relating to family birthdays.  

I recommend this entertaining picture book published by Walker 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

October 2024