WHO IS HAPPY?

Young children get plenty of practice identifying 12 key emotions in this interactive question-and-answer book.

Readers follow 10 characters (three ethnically diverse humans, a robot, and six anthropomorphic animals) throughout a day as they wake up, go to school, swim, have lunch, take a trip to the farm, celebrate a birthday, and get ready for bed. Each double-page spread presents readers with five questions about how the characters are feeling; children must scan the illustrations to find the answers: “Who is HAPPY with their new sweater?” “Who is EXCITED about breakfast?” Facial expressions, props, and other clues allow children to puzzle out the answers; there is no answer key nor any note to parents. Jarvis’ illustrations are brightly colored cartoons against white backgrounds. In some cases, the details do not stand out enough for children to immediately be sure of their answers, and in a few spreads, kids may not know what is going on without the clues provided by the questions: “Who is LAUGHING because of a food fight?” The 12 emotions presented are happy, sad, surprised, scared, angry, jealous, excited, shy, worried, embarrassed, upset, and laughing. This last is not an emotion; it’s used twice, and one of the questions is, “Who is LAUGHING at someone’s swimsuit?” (OK, the robot with trunks on its head is pretty funny.) The small trim size and detailed pictures make this a book to share one on one.

Despite flaws, valuable practice at a crucial skill.