The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness (Colin Thompson, Random House, $24.95 hb, ISBN 9781741662566, April) *****

Award-winning author and illustrator Colin Thompson is well known for his sometimes dark, yet poignant stories about life and the world around us. His characters are often all too real as they grasp with the big issues of the real world in search of a brief glimpse of happiness, to the point where I am not quite sure whether the book is a children’s book or would be more appropriately classified as a picture book for adults. Thompson’s latest book, however, is more easily placed in the children’s book genre—but is not without its deeper undertones. George is a lonely boy who lives with his grandmother. On Friday afternoons after school George stops by the local dog shelter because it is here that his loneliness is mirrored. Until he finds Jeremy and discovers what it feels like to fill the emptiness and bridge the generational distance with his grandmother, as they invite the three-legged dog into their lives. This is a simple story yet emotionally evokes that transition from sadness to happiness, a place so far from emptiness and loneliness. Beautifully told and illustrated with Colin Thompson’s distinct style The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness will be enjoyed by readers young and old.

Candice Cappe is the manager of the National Library of Australia Bookshop in Canberra

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

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