So Happy! [Hardcover]

Kevin Henkes (Author), Anita Lobel (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

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.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1–Original and fresh, Henkes's latest surprise is a collaboration with Lobel, who provides watercolor and gouache illustrations in a style reminiscent of Van Gogh. Set in the Southwest, this circular story about a seed, a rabbit, and a boy is reinforced by the rounded forms in the artist's highly textured scenes. The moon, the sun, the glow enveloping the seed and the child, the frenetic lines of motion surrounding the rabbit and the arc of the rainbow all serve to reinforce the cycles of life that are the subject of this drama. The just-planted seed doesn't grow, the rabbit (who has hopped over the narrow part of a creek) is lost, and the boy is bored–until it rains. Catalyst for all that follows, the storm swells the river; thus, the rabbit is prevented from retracing his steps, the boy is inspired to build a bridge from sticks, the hibiscus is nourished, and the rabbit has a way to return home. The minimal text is paired with one-page scenes, full spreads, and triple panels as dictated by the pace of the plot. In the end, the seed planted by the mother becomes a present from her son; the family portrait depicts the woman finding a spot for the bloom and father and child preparing to read a book on bridges. A satisfying look at the interplay of nature, time, and love.–Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

From Booklist

*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

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books (February 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060564830
• ISBN-13: 978-0060564834
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,343,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kevin Henkes is the creator of many distinguished books for children, including Kitten's First Full Moon (winner of the Caldecott Medal), Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, and Chrysanthemum. His novels for young people include Olive's Ocean (a Newbery Honor Book) and Bird Lake Moon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A warm-hearted picturebook intended for ages 2 and up, April 11, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: So Happy! (Hardcover)

Written in a throughly engaging prose poem style by Newbery Honor Book author Kevin Henkes, and strikingly illustrated by Anita Lobel, So Happy! is the picturebook story of a boy, a rabbit, a magic seed, and a book (which the reader is holding in his hands). The seed grows into a beautiful flower, the boy wanders looking for something to do, and the curious rabbit explores until he is lost... but happiness awaits at the end of a long day, when the rabbit comes home to sleep cozily, and the boy finds the flower that the seed became - it's the perfect gift for his mother! A warm-hearted picturebook intended for ages 2 and up.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars So simple, so sweet, February 15, 2005

By 

Anne B. Levy "bookbuds.net" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: So Happy! (Hardcover)

The prose is so simple, it's stark:

The seed is thirsty
The rabbit is lost
The boy is bored.

Three separate stories unspool on the same pages, seemingly unlinked until the end: The boy busies himself and in the process saves the rabbit and finds a magic flower grown from the seed.

In a press release, Henkes said he kept the lines spare to allow Lobel room to breath. It was Lobel who decided to set the story in the parched southwest with a Mexican family, invent a father whose departure creates the boy's sour mood, and visually weave the three threads into a unified whole.

She uses watercolors in a warm Mexican palette and deep earth tones to conjure up the boy's narrow world: his house, a sudden storm, an engorged creek and the rabbit's frantic scrambling in the brush.

For adults, this is a lesson on how an author let go of his work so an artist could transform it in unexpected ways. For kids, it's a fun romp about a rainy day.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So Happy, September 17, 2011

By 

laurie - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: So Happy! (Hardcover)

I love Kevin Henkes books but had never seen this one. I read this story to my 3rd graders without showing them the pictures. I then asked them to draw the "picture in their mind" in their sketch journal. We reread the book with the pictures. The next day the children painted, using watercolor, a picture of what makes them truely happy.