Whenever I am feeling sad
or life feels hard or wrong or bad,
I focus for a little while
on LITTLE THINGS that make me smile...
What a joyous release on World Book Day and what an honour to have been given today's date on the blogtour for this, one of the nicest and most timely picture books to have come my way recently!
With all the major events going on in the world around us, what better message than to look at what we've got - whatever it is and however small it may seem - and be grateful.
Told in a lovely, gentle rhyme, the book follows the journey of a young child going through the day and seeing the positive in the situations encountered, from ladybird landings to skyward swings, and looks at how when life isn't so sunny, there can be brightness found in the littlest things.
It's simply gorgeous - you can't help but smile reading it - and feels like the book equivalent of a big hug to read! I absolutely loved the wordplay - no forced rhymes, but genuine poetic descriptions of the things that are done/tasted/experienced through the child's day, from spicy noodles to sticky ice-cream, and from minty toothpaste to milky bedtime drinks.
The pictures, too, are engaging and bright, reflecting the positivity of the messages form the child. I loved the initial grey skies and rain of the title pages and first spread which turn to colour as the child's positivity floods the page, and the colourful shapes as rays of light in the darkness when night-time frights threatened to cause alarm.
The chid in the book thanks a book: 'because of YOU I'll have adventures ALL night through.' and this book and author deserve thanks for creating such a beautiful, thankful, positive story to share and take solace in, reflecting on our own little things to be thankful for.
Stunning - can you tell I loved it!? My thanks for this to author Caryl Hart, illustrator Emily Hamilton, and publisher Bloomsbury for the copy of the book. Thanks to Grace for inviting me to be part of the blog tour. Details below for contact/orders.
Check out what others on the blogtour have to say via their pages/details below:
Author:
Caryl Hart (@carylhart1 on Twitter); Website: https://carylhart.com/
Illustrator:
Emily Hamilton (Instagram: http://instagram.com/emilyhamiltonillustration ); Website: https://emily-hamilton.co.uk/
Publisher:
Bloomsbury (@KidsBloomsbury); Website: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/thank-you-for-the-little-things-9781526638908/
Review by Rich Simpson (@richreadalot) March 2022. All opinions my own.
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