My Heart Fills with Happiness

by Monique Gray Smith, Illustrated by Julie Flett
Board book
Orca Book Publishers, 2016
Ages 2-4, PreK-K
ISBN: 9781459809574
Honors: Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize * BC Book Prize Finalize

“What fills your heart with happiness?” asks this inspiring board book that opens with a little girl stroking her mother’s cheek, and, in her mother’s beauty, also seeing and touching her own. Each scene depicts sources of joy within self, family, community, and culture. The illustrations, in a rich and earthy palette, ground the story and resonate a happiness that is simultaneously culturally-specific to First Nations and infinitely transcendent.

This book, while printed in a sturdy format made for the very young, is a precious gift for readers of all ages. Monique Gray Smith and Julie Flett remind us how at our core human beings are meant to be together, connecting in ways that allow us to show and share our truest selves through song, dance, food, and story – across generations, in harmony with creation and each other.
– GA