Happy
by Miles Van Hout
Lemniscaat, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-935954-14-9
FORMAT: Picture Book
Ages: 2 to 6
4 Stars

This is an amusing book about various emotions. For each page there is only one word written. It might be “sad” or “jealous” or “confused.” Then there is an illustration of a fish that totally fits the emotion. This is a brilliant way to show young readers just what different emotions are. Plus it is a fun, bright book with great illustrations of fish that are just right.

The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars was that I missed the “Happy” emotion. It was on the cover but I really thought it would be good to have that particular word within the context of the book as well. Especially since the title page didn’t even have the happy fish illustration. But, I still would use this in storytime. Either as a read aloud or as a book on display.

What to Do After Reading This Book:
Draw pictures of different emotions.
Practice making faces and see if you can guess what type of “face” the other is making.
Draw pictures of fish.
Buy a goldfish.
Watch a movie with a fish in it (Finding Nemo comes to mind).
Read the book again and talk about why it looks like that fish belongs to that emotion.

What Kids Will Learn From This Book:
There are different emotions.
Different facial (or body) signs can help you to figure out what emotions different people (or fish) are feeling.
It is okay to feel different emotions. Perhaps if you are feeling a certain way you could tell a grownup about it.