Yellow is bright and initiates a sense of happiness in a room, so the cover of Smile Starring Sunny McCloud grabbed my attention. Leigh Hodgkinson uses her creative illustrations and font manipulation to accent the fun in this book. Researching the author, I found this quick (35 second) but cute YouTube video about Smile that you might want to show your kids as an introduction. Or, the use the video as a spring-board to discuss the beginning comment “What you are looking for is often right under your nose.”
Sunny has a problem. She has lost her smile. She’s usually a chipper person, but today she’s hunting for her smile. Sunny chooses to do some things to help – cleans her room, feed the fish, plays with her dog. When Mother compliments Sunny on the stupendous job she has done, her smile appears.
You could create a class book about “What makes you smile?” This book could help with community building, instilling the fact that it’s important to build others up and create an atmosphere where people are happy.
Savorings for reading and in writing for Smile!:
- Talks to the reader – first person narrative
- Font manipulation – D E S P E R A T E!
- Hyphenated words – UN-higgledly – piggledy bedroom
- Character emotions
- Community building – great discussion starters in class “What brings a smile to your face?”
Book Savors 