When You Are Happy Book

When you are afraid

I will take your hand

and not let go—

In this delightful and lyrical text by renowned children's author Eileen Spinelli, a young girl finds reassurance from all of her family members and learns that love complements every mood. Coupled with dazzling art by illustrator Geraldo Valério, her words become a beautiful reminder of the care and comforts of unconditional love.

Children's Literature

Eileen Spinelli lets out all the stops in this no-holds-barred paean to family love. Her tiny poem-meditations catch a little one's tears "in a blue cup/and water the yellow flowers/and they will grow/more beautiful." Blankets are woven "from leftover sun." Stars are borrowed and belly buttons exposed as parents, grandparents, and siblings rally round a delicate child. The end result could be either unadulterated joy—or suffocation. The Brazilian/Canadian illustrator Geraldo Valerio works with acrylics, and his figures swirl Chagall-like—with that touch of magic realism that is considered Latin American, but perhaps was birthed in the shtetls—through bright, bold spaces. His work is a good match for Spinelli's verse. The book is definitely eye-catching, from the prefatory visual family tree, to anti-grumpy pumpkin fields, to night skies pierced by the spotlights of rescue helicopters and spelled-out star messages. It is certainly a good-choice bedtime story for insecure youngsters.