100 Things That Make Me Happy by Amy Schwartz

100 Things That Make Me Happy by Amy Schwartz
Abrams Appleseed

Rating: 5 stars

And now, in the category of I Wish I Had Thought of That! (but could I have done it as well as she did? I'm not sure--I really like this book!), comes a bright new picture book full of little things that make little and big people really happy.

Where could a book like this go wrong?

I need not waste any of my early-morning thoughts on worrying, because this book does not go wrong.

Award-winning Amy Schwartz has written a poem of things that make most kids happy, and illustrated sweet vignettes and images to go with her words:

Bucket trucks, yellow ducks
Grocery carts, frosted hearts
Grandma's lap, a gingersnap
White snow, cookie dough
Apple pies, Butterflies

Mud puddles, soap bubbles, Grandpa's tools, swimming pools
Brother and sis, Good-night kiss

This book is a long list of things that remind me and hopefully other adult readers how easy-to-please kids are. And it makes me count my blessings to hang around kids most of the hours of my day because their easy-to-please-ness rubs off on me. (Or maybe my own easy-to-please childhood hasn't entirely vanished as I've matured into an adult?)  

I love that the kids in this book pause to celebrate the fact that they're riding big-kid bikes, watching a parade, get to sleep in an extra cozy bed, eating chocolate cake.

This is a book full of inspiration--I love the idea of my kids making books of their own like these. What makes your kid happy today? A list of ten or fifteen things, with drawings just as cute as those by Amy Schwartz's able hand, bound together with staples or string is a keepsake for sure, or a gift for an upcoming Mothers or Fathers Day...

I think on the next rainy day I'm going to get out the butcher paper and lay down flat on my belly alongside my kids to create a big ol' mural of things that make us happy...