So Happy!: A Magical Story About a Boy, a Rabbit, and Finding Joy for Kids (Ages 4-8) - Hardcover

Henkes, Kevin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060564830 ISBN 13: 9780060564834

Publisher: Greenwillow Books, 2005

Synopsis

There once was a boy, a rabbit, a magic seed, and a book...

The boy, who was bored, went looking for something to do.

The rabbit, who was curious, explored until he was lost.

The seed was thirsty, but soon it grew and grew and grew.

And the book? Turn the pages! It will make you so happy.

"A satisfying look at the interplay of nature, time, and love." (Publishers Weekly)

About this title

About the Authors

Kevin Henkes has been praised both as a writer and as an illustrator and is the recipient of the Children’s Literature Legacy Award for his lasting contribution to literature for children. He received the Caldecott Medal for Kitten’s First Full Moon; Caldecott Honors for Waiting and Owen; Newbery Honors for Olive’s Ocean and The Year of Billy Miller; and Geisel Honors for Waiting and Penny and Her Marble. His other books include Is It Spring?, The World and Everything in It, A House, A Parade of Elephants, Chrysanthemum, and the beloved Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. Kevin Henkes lives with his family in Madison, Wisconsin.

Anita Lobel's name is synonymous with the best in children's literature. She is the creator of such classics as Alison's Zinnia and Away from Home, and she received a Caldecott Honor for her illustrations in On Market Street. She is the creator of two books about her cat, Nini, One Lighthouse, One Moon (a New York Times Best Illustrated Book), and Nini Here and There. Her childhood memoir, No Pretty Pictures: A Child of War, was a finalist for the National Book Award. Anita Lobel lives in New York City.

From the Back Cover

There once was
a boy,
a rabbit,
a magic seed,
and a book.

The boy, who was bored,
went looking for something to do.
The rabbit, who was curious,
explored until he was lost.
The seed was thirsty,
but soon it grew and grew and grew.

And the book?
You are holding it in your hands.
Turn the pages!
It will make you
so happy.

Reviews

*Starred Review* Gr. 1-3. Three components--a "magic" amaryllis seed, a lost rabbit, and a restless boy--intertwine in this powerful collaboration between two acclaimed author-illustrators. Henkes contributes text stripped gracefully to essentials: "There was no rain, so the seed didn't grow"; the little rabbit, exploring, "wandered and wandered until it didn't know where it was"; and the boy could "think of nothing to do, so he did just that." Then "the rain came." The drenching water strands the rabbit on the wrong side of a storm-swollen creek, nourishes the seed that blooms into a bright gift for the boy's mother, and inspires the boy to construct a bridge that carries bunny home. Lobel's vigorous artwork, a riot of color that pays homage to Van Gogh, locates events in a sun-toasted, south-of-the-border landscape, and captures the rhythm of Henkes' splitting, braided narratives in triptychs alternating with cohesive scenes. For readers slightly older than those targeted by Henkes' Kitten's First Full Moon [BKL F 15 04] or Lobel's One Lighthouse, One Moon (2000), this deceptively simple drama imparts a reassuring sense that, at least sometimes, the seemingly disparate incidents of life incline toward universally beneficial, "so happy" convergence. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Greenwillow Books
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060564830
• ISBN 13: 9780060564834
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Lobel Anita
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32