A New York Times Best Children’s Book of 2021 A Publishers Weekly High-Concept Picture Book for Children A CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center) Choices Best Children’s Book, 2022 Is there any creature in the world happier than a dog with a ball in its mouth? Maybe a cat in the sun? Or a kid eating ice cream? This gentle book, with its soft and evocative colored pencil illustrations, is philosophical in its approach to the millions of forms that happiness can take, as well as the contrasting disappointments and sorrows that we encounter as we navigate our lives. Starting from the happiness of waking up into a brand-new day, the book goes on to explore the kinds of relationships and contrasts that play out between our feelings and experiences. These contrasts play out beautifully across the page from left to right, and across a couple of long gatefold pages. Whether it's the nervousness of a beginning paired with the happiness of a middle; the indignity of a cut against the happiness of a scab; the boredom of nothing to do contrasted with the happiness of nothing to do; or the divide of mine against the happiness of our, these pages challenge the reader to think about daily activities and experiences and the feelings they conjure. They also lead us to think about the substance of our happiness, and what the ingredients of it might be. Written with subtlety and nuance and illustrated in pencil, pen and watercolor with great tenderness,  The Happiness of a Dog with a Ball in its Mouth  is a gentle, fun, and philosophical read, with which one can start and end the day. PreS-Gr 1-A meditation on keeping things in perspective. The simple, repetitive text frames a day with waking and sleeping but does not follow a linear story arc or particular characters through the middle. Rather, it shows different scenarios with children and animals experiencing a wide array of negative and neutral emotions, described with outstanding vocabulary choices (patience, nervousness, indignity, reluctance). Then Handy contrasts them with the happiness that occurs when one looks on the brighter side. In addition to the titular example, other scenarios include "the worry of looking. The happiness of finding" as a child loses her parent in a crowd, as well as "the divide of mine. The happiness of ours" as twins share a treat. Yum makes impeccable images, carefully and uncomplicatedly, with pencil and watercolor, bringing each moment to life, always adding a touch of humor. Children and families will laugh at "the effort of holding it in. The happiness of letting it go," with an image of a boy standing at the toilet. All of the scenarios, from enduring a fall and a scrape to getting out of the cold bath into a warm towel to starting a new school and then making friends, are relatable to children even from a young age. VERDICT A sweet, never sentimental book about finding happiness in small places, and perfect for lap-reading or story times.-Clara Hendricks, Cambridge P.L., MAα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. A New York Times Best Children's Book of 2021 "Handy's debut picture book, arguably an antidote to Charles Schulz's Happiness Is a Warm Puppy , is as much about the buildup to his title as it is about its payoff. 'The patience of a dog at the door, ' waiting to go out -- leash in mouth, eyes bright, tail poised in that moment before wagging -- is a necessary prelude to the dog's joy. Just as losing precedes finding, and 'holding in' precedes 'letting go.' By turns wistful and whimsical, and particularly apt for these times, this one's a keeper." --New York Times A Publishers Weekly High-Concept Picture Book for Children ★ "With this loose collection of turnabouts, Handy ( Wild Things , for adults) and Yum ( Lion Needs a Haircut ) meditate on the way moments of disgrace, loss, and worry can resolve into something better... Gently tinted spreads by Yum carry emotion and straightforward beauty, as in a portrait of a bird resting ("The stillness of a perch"), then taking wing ("The happiness of flight"). This work takes a place on the shelf of A Hole Is to Dig -style miscellanies as the collaborators trace how adverse experiences might be openings to learning and joy." --STARRED REVIEW, Publishers Weekly A CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center) Choices Best Children's Book, 2022 " The vast and varied feeling of happiness is explored by paired statements that connect it to other emotions and various actions, with illustrations providing visual context for each pairing... Across the book, the simple statements are carefully crafted, revealing ideas that are sometimes surprising ('The indignity of a cut. The happiness of a scab.'), sometimes surprisingly insightful ('The frustration of hearing No. The happiness of saying No.'). These moments of unexpected connection balance the repetitive, restrained structure of th