IF YOU’RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT!

An exuberant take on the children’s song with a cast of adorable animals and an even more adorable little girl adding to the fun. With cheeks like roses, a heart on her T-shirt, and red-and-white striped knee socks, the blonde heroine sings a verse, clapping her hands. But a small brown dog says the thing to do when you’re happy is wag your tail. An elephant notes, however, that his tail “is rather insignificant” and so prefers a version involving flapping one’s ears. A crocodile wants to snap his teeth “snip, clip!,” a gorilla is definitely into thumping his chest, and so it goes through toucans, hyenas, parrots, and kangaroos. It all ends with a rousing chorus of “When you’re happy and you know it, do your thing” with girl and all the animals performing en masse. And such animals: the bright blue gorilla has rosy cheeks, as does the pale blue elephant with a striped trunk. The crocodile’s teeth seem to be made of newsprint and its body is patchwork; the little brown dog's a cuddly, winsome fellow. A great read-aloud/sing-along, with one caveat: the verses don’t wrap to completion as in the original song, because the next animal interrupts the flow to chime in. So the compulsive reader or listener will have to add the last line to tie up the page—possibly making it even more entertaining. (Picture book. 3-7)