14 Aug / Happy by Mies van Hout
The son woke up blasting Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” this morning which prompted me to exuberantly sing praises for this splendiferous book of the same title. Having only recently discovered Mies van Hout‘s newest Surprise, I’m quickly catching up with her earlier titles and goofily, gleefully adoring them all. [Stay tuned for Friends coming soon … ]
Every van Hout book encountered thus far is a celebration of ingenious simplicity packaged in utter joy. Here, one word and one illustration of a single expressive fish graces each spread … and that’s just enough to elicit a flood of emotions with every turn of the page. “Curious” is a lavender-eyed yellow adventurer with just the hint of a smile. “Brave” is a tiny wanderer in a dark waters, eyes pointed upward and beyond. “Surprised” looks like a multi-hued, mouth-agaped bright angel. “Furious” is surely having a bad-scale day. “Jealous” is not pretty, but “glad” couldn’t be more dazzlingly satisfied.
Of course, many more emotions are yours to explore … I can’t give too many more away here because your shelves need this book! Interestingly, you won’t see “Happy” repeated between the covers (love that originality!), but you’ll surely be “delighted” all the say to the perfect final page. As that “Happy”-dancing boy would say, #grateful indeed!
Readers: Children
Published: 2011, 2012 (United States)