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...

Maya Was Grumpy by Courtney Pippin-Mathur

Maya Was Grumpy by Courtney Pippin-Mathur
Flashlight Press

Rating: 5 stars

Maya was grumpy. She doesn't know why she's in what my dad called a poopy mood. She doesn't want to "read or color or eat banana chips, or wear her favorite shorts, or go outside and play." She just wants to spread the bad mood--the cat she snarls at, the birds she makes faces at, and the brothers she grumbles to get out of her way.

Gramma in the kitchen is the only one left. So Maya thumps and growls and takes her bad mood over to Gramma.

But there's no pulling down Gramma into her bad mood. Nope. Wise, cheerful Gramma has a few tricks up her polka-dotted, muumuu sleeves. Gramma starts listing silly things that she was going to do with Maya and her brothers today--things that will now have to be rescheduled because of Maya's grumpy mood.

"Feeling a little grumpy today?" Gramma asked.
Maya just scowled.

"I guess that means no hunting for hippos after breakfast," she starts with.

"And no putting your head in a crocodile's mouth before lunch," as she shrugs her shoulders.

"Bathing baby elephants would probably be a bad idea today if you're grumpy," Gramma says as she moves around through the breakfast routine.

Each wild suggestion is vividly painted for young readers to see, in colors brighter than the brightest imagination. There's Gramma and Maya and two boys swimming along, looking for hippos...and Gramma and Maya and two boys tickling a toothy tarantula...and Gramma and Maya and two boys sliding down the neck of a super tall giraffe.

In the beginning, Gramma's wild suggestions are met with scowls and "That's just silly" comments and the dreaded eye roll. But soon, Maya can't help but crack a smile, and the corners of her frown are wiggling up a little more each time, until a giggle bursts out and breaks up that grumpy mood once and for all.

...and Maya felt much better.

Maya hugs Gramma.

I can't write one more thing about this book without mentioning Maya's wild and fiery, curly-swirly mass of hair. It covers the first few pages and serves as the embodiment of her grumpiness. I don't know how Pippin-Mathur came up with this hair-as-mood idea but it is just great! As Maya calms down and cools off and cheers up, her hair also comes back to a more self-controlled state.

My fingers are crossed that your kids have a Gramma-like person in their lives who can evaporate bad moods with patience and love and silliness. In fact, I hope YOU have a Gramma-like person who can quietly and sweetly make your poopy mood POOF! disappear. And I hope us curly-swirly hair types can tame the frizz like Maya can...

Grandfather Gandhi by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus

Grandfather Gandhi by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus

Rating: 5 stars

Arun and his family arrive at Sevagram, his grandfather Gandhi's service village, and go straight to Gandhi's hut. They touch his feet to show respect; he hugs them tightly in return. Gandhi is impressed that the boy had walked the entire way from the train station. "That walk is a test of character. I am impressed." The boy's heart swells.

And so begins Arun's time at Sevagram, a time of simple beds and early mornings, guided meditations and chores, and of wondering if he could live up to the Gandhi name. Wherever the boy came from, it was quite different from where he is now, and the new places frustrates him to no end.  Here, in this place where he is supposed to be still and peaceful, Arun feels fidgety and annoyed all day long. Finally, he gets into a shouting match during a soccer game, and feels singled out for his quickness to anger.

He goes to seek counsel from his grandfather.  Gandhi is busy doing more important things, but he wonderfully shoos away his colleagues and puts away his papers in order to make time and space for his grandson.

"We all feel anger."
"Even you?" I asked.
"Even me," said Grandfather.

"Tell me what has you so upset," he says.  The boy's story spills out, and the fear of never being at peace or living up to the great Gandhi name hangs in the air. Gandhi assures the child that everyone feels anger--even the great Gandhi himself.

Anger is like electricity, Gandhi explains. It can strike like lightening and split a living tree in two. Or it can be channeled and transformative, and it can shed light like a lamp. In this way, anger can illuminate. It can turn darkness into light. We can work to use our anger, instead of letting it use us. The choice lies in each of us: lightning or lamp.

--

There is so much goodness in this book.  The ability to talk about anger, and how it is a natural feeling, present in all of us, is the best part of the book, but there are others. Namely, how he wonders if he'll ever live up to his family's name, how Gandhi makes time for him, and the introduction of a great man like Gandhi.

I did my best to live my life as light.

But the anger part is so important.  Back when I was obsessed with Gandhi in college, I was attracted to his stoicism.  I wished I had what I thought to be his ability to push down all his feelings and feel at peace.  I think because I was young and still very naive and hadn't yet felt a full range of emotions that I thought this was possible. Now, at an older and, yes, wiser period of my life, I realize that pushing emotions down deep and putting on a certain, expected face is a skill to be cast away, not idolized.  Transforming those very human and very deep emotions is trickier and healthier and what I now aim to do. Living with feelings and using my emotions are things I'm actively figuring out how to do, and how to teach my kids.

I could go on and on. But I won't. The book is wonderful, a great read though not an incredibly fun one. How great to read this with your child (or class), then be able to remind yourself (and for your child to remind you) of the choice we all have when we feel anger: lightening or lamp. The book's simple message has the potential to live in my children and your children for decades. And that is a hallmark of a truly wonderful book. A small critique: I wish it were slightly more accessible for kids.  The illustrations, while beautiful and artsy and Caldecott-worthy, are like poetry--gorgeous but difficult to understand, and they could be a turn off for some kids.

Do read the book for yourself--this might be a picture book your child never reads, or doesn't love.  But you should read it. So check it out for you this time around.

Rain! by Linda Ashman

Rain! by Linda Ashman, illustrated by Christian Robinson

Rating: 5 stars

At first glance, you might think, "See?  Picture books are so easy to write."  This is a simple book--a simple idea, written with sparse words; a picture book written with, well, pictures.

It's raining.  And from a tall apartment, two characters get ready for a little walk to a little bakery.  One is a young boy, happily dressed in a hoppy frog outfit, a smile on his face, boots made for splashing in puddles on his feet.  Frog-Boy is celebrating the rain, and his excitement is contagious.  Every person with whom he interacts soon has a smile on his face.

The other character is a grumpy old man whose furrowed brow dives down deeper at the sign of the blasted rain.  "Nasty galoshes.  Blasted overcoat. Dang puddle." he complains.  His grumpiness is contagious.  Every person with whom Old Grumps interacts sobers up and gets serious.

The first page says it all...

The two meet at the Rain or Shine Cafe.  Frog-Boy bumps into Old Grumps, who spits down at him, "Watch out!"  He alone is immune to the cuteness of the boy.  But then Old Grumps forgets his hat, so the Frog-Boy runs after him.  He puts on Old Grumps' hat and mimics him.  Old Grumps realizes right then and there what he looks like.  So he takes the Frog-Boy's hat, squeezes it on his big bald head, smiles, and says, "Ribbit!"

Cheerfulness wins the day!  Hooray!

Linda Ashman was wise to write such a simple, perfect little book about something we parents rant about all the time: attitude.  Have a good one, and not only will you be light and happy, but you'll have a good effect on those you touch during the day.

A simple, sweet book that my kids and I just love.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst, illustrated by Ray Cruz

Rating: 5 stars

Throwback Thursday!

I read this classic for the very first time this morning.  For the first time!  Published in 1972--before I was born!--it has been a classic my whole life.  Yet...I don't remember reading it until this morning.

(Mom, if I'm remembering wrong, please feel free to correct me...yet again.)

I checked it out from our library once before, when Lorelei was about three.  We read the first few pages, but I found some excuse to stop reading it, tuck it back in the library bag, and return it without finishing it.  Why such strange behavior, you ask?  Because Lorelei had--and still does have--the sunniest, warmest personality you'll ever meet.  She didn't know what a bad day was, and I worried that if I introduced the concept of a bad day, she'd start having one.  Or two. Or more!

I'm not saying this was a logical decision, but...  Ben was about 18 months at the time, and all those people I saw at the grocery store were right--I had my hands full.  I desperately NEEDED Lorelei to continue having all the good days she could so I could remain sane and happy myself!  I am so very grateful for her happy demeanor then and now.  But I got the book again--brave me, right?--because I knew she needed--I know she needs--permission to have a bad day every now and then.

I think it's easy for us parents with always-happy children to allow them to have a grumpy morning, a give minute whine-fest, or a completely bad day, like our pal Alexander.  I am guilty of snuffing out Lorelei's poopy moods, for sure.  But about a year ago, when she was in kindergarten and we were both going through growing pains of sorts, I started to realize that I've got to let Lorelei have and show a full range of feelings and moods. Bottling stuff up, which I certainly did as a kid and do as an adult, is not the way to go.  She's seen enough of that in me.

How to change my own behavior, and hers, too?  Well, I full on admit when I'm having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!  Usually, though, I have terrible, horrible, no good, very bad MOMENTS more than full DAYS.

When she has the same and admits in tears that nothing went right today as I tuck her in, I commiserate with her.  I don't try and go back and point out the good in everything right then (like I want to).  I just listen and invite her to pour out all that she experienced, and I'll hold on to that disappointment and frustration and annoyance and anger so that her sweet 6 year old body can fall asleep with only the good stuff.

And so, I checked this out again and we read it.  And this morning Ben and Lorelei and I laughed at Alexander and how everything seemed like such a BIG DEAL.  Ben's dimples deepened as Alexander kept on threatening to go to Australia.  Why Australia?!  he asked, laughing.  So random!  So funny!

And isn't this the whole point of life, of feelings, of terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days?  Acknowledging what you're feeling, and then having the humility and the courage and the love of family and friends to laugh at how silly it all seems after it's over.


P.S. Did you know this book will soon be a movie?  To be released this year.  Glad I read the book first, as the book is always better!

Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses by Kimberly & James Dean

Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses by Kimberly & James Dean, illustrated by James Dean

Rating: 4 stars

He's ba-ack! And in a very good way...

Pete the Cat finds himself in a situation for which he's not totally prepared: he's grumpy.  "Pete had the blue cat blues."  His trademark cool black ears aren't sticking up--they are flopped down sadly, and Pete's trademark cool eyes are looking rather glum.

But that's okay, because his pal Grumpy Toad, who is actually less grumpy than Pete, rolls up on his motorcycle and gives Pete some cool blue magic sunglasses that will help him see everything in a whole new way.  And it works!  Turn the page, and all the blue has turned to sunlight bright yellow!

"Right on!" declares Pete, suddenly cool and happy again.

Pete the Cat had the blue cat blues.

Pete wears the sunglasses and skateboards along his day, bumping into animal friends that are grumpy. He shares his cool blue magic sunglasses with them and they, too, begin to see the world in a lighter, brighter way.  Once they don the classy shades, they each chant:

The birds are singing!
The sky is bright!
The sun is shining!
I'm feeling all right!

At the end of the book, Pete falls off his skateboard and breaks the sunglasses.  Oops!  He realizes that the magic sunglasses really just have a placebo effect (my word, not Dean's...no, you won't have to explain to your child what a placebo effect is), and he can still change the color of his world, the tone of his day, the mood within himself by simply choosing happiness.  There's not really any magic in them.

The sunglasses are cool, but they're not a necessary accessory for a good attitude.

The chant isn't quite so catchy as his first two books, but James and Kimberly Dean definitely did a lot of things right in this book.  I really like that cool Pete is in a bad mood--shows that we all have emotions and grumpy days are part of life.  I like that he shares his sunglasses and good mood with others--I always tell the kids that the most important thing they need for school is a smile, meaning a good, open attitude.  Cheesy, but they've got to know it.

Awesome!

Oh, and here's another fun thing: In the back of the book, there's a pair of cool blue magic sunglasses that you can rip out, put together, and wear.  Kiefer was dismayed to learn that we actually needed to BUY the book in order to WEAR the sunglasses.  And Lorelei and Ben wondered why, when you put on the blue sunglasses, did your blues go away and everything turns bright yellow...but they didn't stick around for my lecture on suspending your disbelief while reading fiction...

But that leads me to wonder: When the library gets copies of this book, do the librarians rip out the sunglasses and wear them around before we all get there, gettin' their Pete the Cat groove on before story time?  I sure hope so!

Toot and Puddle You Are My Sunshine by Holly Hobbie

Toot and Puddle You Are My Sunshine by Holly Hobbie

Rating: 4.5 stars

I love these books--mostly for the gorgeous watercolor illustrations that I'd like to cut out and frame and put on the walls in each child's bedroom (but they are library books so of course I wouldn't!).  But I also love the characters, two pigs with different personalities who somehow mesh together incredibly well.  Toot is my favorite--he's the adventure seeker, always looking for some new place to go or fantastic experience to have.  Toot is bright and cheerful, optimistic and playful.  His little piggy face has a big piggy smile on at all times.

But in this book, Toot is moping.  In a poopy mood.  His friend Puddle is confused--Toot is never in the doldrums.  Toot walks around in a storm cloud.  So, his buddy Puddle makes it his mission to cheer him up.  He makes Puddle his favorite five-berry cobbler, provides an adventure by floating own a river, and has a party with all of Toot's friends.

Still, Toot mopes.  Poor guy.

Then, there is a real storm--not just the figurative one over Toot.  It rains and rains.  Lightening crackles, thunder rumbles, all the animals are scared.

And in the morning, Toot skips through the puddles.  The old Toot is back!

"Sometimes you need a whopping thunderstorm to clear the air."  The two pigs agree that thunderstorms and friends are absolutely necessary.

I am not great at letting my kids stay in a poopy mood, but it's good for me to remember: Everyone mopes.  Everyone has their down minutes, down days, sometimes down weeks.  Hopefully they have a friend nearby who takes their mope-itude on and makes them smile and laugh, if only a little at a time, until their doldrums are over.

The other great thing about this book is that I get "You Are My Sunshine" stuck in my head, and that's not a bad thing at all.  Love that song.

My Many Colored Days by Dr Seuss, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

My Many Colored Days by Dr Seuss, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

Rating: 4.5 stars

Well here's a book about something I neither practice nor preach!  But, funnily, I still love it.

Here's the good news: We pass our own habits on to our children.  And now, the bad news: We pass our own habits on to our children.

Darn those double-edged swords.  Emotions are something I struggle to teach.  My father taught us to be in control of our emotions, to always think clearly and act deliberately rather than simply react thoughtlessly to circumstances.  And my mom (hi, mom!) was able to and taught us to put a smile on our face regardless of the situation.  So I actually expect my children to be cheerful and happy most of the time.  Moments of grumpiness, okay.  But all day long?  No way.  And, they are cheerful and happy the vast majority of the time.  I'm not sure if I'm denying them the "right" to be sad or angry or whatever...their therapists will let me know, I'm sure.  Hope they choose a cheap one.

Or maybe I'll slip this book under their pillows and they can learn about emotions through osmosis.

"On other days I'm other things
On Bright Blue Days I flap my wings."

But here are the words to this book.  I couldn't choose which stanzas I like the best, so here is all of it:

Some days are yellow. Some are blue.
On different days, I'm different too
You'd be surprised how many ways
I change on different colored days.
On bright red days how good it feels
To be a horse and kick my heels!
On other days I'm other things...
On bright blue days I flap my wings.
Some days, of course, feel sort of brown.
Then I feel slow, and low, low down.
Then comes a yellow day and wheeeee!
I am a busy, buzzy bee.
Gray day...everything is gray.
I watch.  But nothing moves today.
Then all of a sudden I'm a circus seal
On my orange days that's how I feel.
Green days.  Deep deep in the sea.
Cool and quiet fish, that's me.
But when my days are happy pink
It's great to jump and just not think.
Then come my black days.  MAD.  And loud.
I howl.  I growl at every cloud.
Then comes a mixed-up day and WHAM
I don't know who or what I am.
But it all turns out all right you see
And I go back to being me.

When Sophie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang

When Sophie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang

Rating: 4.5 stars

I wasn't sure about a book where the cover shows a little girl who looks ready to yell at me.  But an old friend--we're talking horseback-riding-through-the-pineapple-fields old friend--suggested it to us.  So of course we had to check it out.

I was still worried during the first few pages (of course I didn't preview it, I just plunged right ahead during breakfast one morning) when Sophie grabs a gorilla from her sister and resists sharing the toy.  She "roars a red, red roar" (yikes!) and looks like a volcano about to erupt (double yikes!).  What does Sophie do when she's really, really angry?

She runs. 

She runs to the woods, to her favorite birch tree, which she climbs and sits on its sturdy branches, and lets the breeze lift her hair and her mood.  She stares at the sea and finds solace in nature.  She listens to the birds, chipmunks, owls, and squirrels and lets them calm her.  Then she goes home, where everything is back together again.

My reading of Last Child of the Woods by Rirchard Louv resulted in a relocation to a house on several acres with creeks and trees and deer and butterflies.  In case you've not heard of it or read it yourself, Richard Louv

cites multiple causes for why children spend less time outdoors and why they have less access to nature: our growing addiction to electronic media, the relinquishment of green spaces to development, parents’ exaggerated fears of natural and human predators, and the threat of lawsuits and vandalism that has prompted community officials to forbid access to their land. Drawing on personal experience and the perspectives of urban planners, educators, naturalists and psychologists, Louv links children’s alienation from nature to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, stress, depression and anxiety disorders, not to mention childhood obesity.

I know that was a long quote, but I had to put a small plug in for this book. 

Anyway, When Sophie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry is a good introduction to this concept that nature is important, that in nature one can find solace.  Just an hour ago, Lorelei and Ben and I sat on our front porch and had lunch.  It was one of the first meals at home during which we've not read a book, but we did listen to cicadas and helicopters and watch our neighbor get a delivery, then wondered out loud what new thing they purchased.  Then we pretended there were owls swooping through the trees.  My fingers are crossed that they always have the ability to, like Sophie, turn to nature for comfort.

This book also encourages conversation about what to do when the inevitable happens: when you get angry, what do you do?  My dad, an actual philosopher (among other things), always said that you might not be able to control the circumstances, but you can control your reaction to them.  Of course I'd like to pass that wisdom on to my kids!  But we're at the stage now where I'm simply trying to stop Ben from biting poor Lorelei when he's angry!  Baby steps, baby steps.  But at least I know what my goal is.

One less-positive note: I don't love the illustrations.  This is a Caldecott winner, so I guess that the committee, along with swarms of other grown ups and kids, including my old pal Heather and her kids, liked it.  Lorelei and Ben respond well to the strong, vibrant pictures, so...there's a reason for them.  And there are many reasons to read this book.  Enjoy!