Happy Written & Illustrated by Mies van Hout

Hout, Mies van. Happy. New York: Lemniscaat, 2012. Print. 52 pages.
Age Group:	6 month to 2 years
Book Format:	Picture Book
Annotation:	Chalk on Dark Paper Illustrations of fish with different human emotions
Personal Reaction:	A very dark book due to the illustration technique of chalk on dark paper; however, this reviewer can see the potential of increasing the young reader’s vocabulary.  While the pictures of the fish are quite childlike the words accompanying the pictures lend themselves too much interaction between the readers to the 6 month to 2 year old age groups. As the adult reader I would show the picture and read the word, I would then make facial expressions and or body movements that would demonstrate the word.  As this reviewer is not a big fan of the childlike chalk drawings I can also see the potential of children liking the pictures by comparing them to their own basic drawings.
Keywords/Tags:	Fish, Emotions, Feelings, Adjectives
Early Literacy Skills Enhancements:	Builds vocabulary by matching words with images