The vast and varied feeling of happiness is explored by paired statements that connect it to other emotions and various actions, with illustrations providing visual context for each pairing. Except for the book’s open and close, showing the start of two successive days, most of the pairings are on a single page spread. A dog shown waiting with a leash in its mouth by a door, and then joyfully bounding through a park, accompany “The patience of a dog at the door. The happiness of a dog with a ball in its mouth.” Across the book, the simple statements are carefully crafted, revealing ideas that are sometimes surprising (“The indignity of a cut. The happiness of a scab.”), sometimes surprisingly insightful (“The frustration of hearing No. The happiness of saying No.”). These moments of unexpected connection balance the repetitive, restrained structure of the text. A book that opens with a Black child awakening and being greeted by two dogs closes with a brown-skinned child going to bed, bringing the narrative full circle. Other children are featured across the book’s pages and the 24-hour time span, and a concluding wordless double-page spread gathers many of the diverse children introduced throughout in a playground scene. (Ages 3-7)

Is there any creature in the world happier than a dog with a ball in its mouth? Maybe a cat in the sun? Or a kid eating ice cream? This gentle book, with its soft and evocative colored pencil illustrations, is philosophical in its approach to the millions of forms that happiness can take, as well as the contrasting disappointments and sorrows that we encounter as we navigate our lives.A New York Times Best Children's Book of 2021

A Publishers Weekly High-Concept Picture Book for Children
A CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center) Choices Best Children's Book, 2022

Is there any creature in the world happier than a dog with a ball in its mouth? Maybe a cat in the sun? Or a kid eating ice cream? This gentle book, with its soft and evocative colored pencil illustrations, is philosophical in its approach to the millions of forms that happiness can take, as well as the contrasting disappointments and sorrows that we encounter as we navigate our lives.

Starting from the happiness of waking up into a brand-new day, the book goes on to explore the kinds of relationships and contrasts that play out between our feelings and experiences. These contrasts play out beautifully across the page from left to right, and across a couple of long gatefold pages. Whether it's the nervousness of a beginning paired with the happiness of a middle; the indignity of a cut against the happiness of a scab; the boredom of nothing to do contrasted with the happiness of nothing to do; or the divide of mine against the happiness of our, these pages challenge the reader to think about daily activities and experiences and the feelings they conjure. They also lead us to think about the substance of our happiness, and what the ingredients of it might be. Written with subtlety and nuance and illustrated in pencil, pen and watercolor with great tenderness, The Happiness of a Dog with a Ball in its Mouth is a gentle, fun, and philosophical read, with which one can start and end the day.