Meet Happy Bear Board Book Review

Welcome to my first review of 2018. This week I will be bringing you reviews of five board/picture books from Abrams Appleseed. Then next week, you will be able to enter to win in my Appleseed Library Starter Giveaway. This will give you a chance to win all five books I am reviewing this week.

So, let's get started. The first book I would like to highlight is a darling, interactive book called Meet Happy Bear, illustrated by Carles Ballesteros.

In this story the cute little bear cub experiences several different negative emotions. He is sad, worried, angry, and then is found to be crying, so he must be really upset. It is up to a little mouse and the reader to cheer Happy Bear up by doing silly or kind things, such as singing, playing the trumpet, and blowing bubbles. 

As you turn the page, the tab pulls the page so the face changes.

Once you turn the page, it goes back to the original happy face and the new page starts out with a happy face, while the text exclaims that "Happy Bear is happy again!"

The story keeps it simple, just letting the reader know that Happy Bear is experiencing a new emotion. It doesn't go into the details of what happened to make him get sad/angry/worried.

At the end of the book poor Happy Bear is so upset he is actually crying.

It takes cuddles from his mommy to make him all better again.

I just thought this was such a sweet story. Showing that we can experience different emotions, which is normal. I love that the bears name is Happy Bear, and his name doesn't change just because his emotions do. I love that it shows that sometimes simple things can help us be happy again, but sometimes it is okay to need cuddles from mommy. 

The illustrations are adorable. I love that they are bright and bold. The mouse is always on the left while Happy Bear is on the right. The backgrounds are simple, so we can focus on the mouse and the bear(s). 

I think the face changing in the Venetian blind style is quite innovative. My kids have always enjoyed books with tabs that allow the child to manipulate the illustrations. Granted, they don't really have to do anything but turn the page and they seem to "magically" change as the page changes. But it is still fun to watch the face change as you flip the pages opened and closed to watch him change.

There is also the interactive aspect in that the child can be encouraged to help the mouse do the actions to help Happy Bear be happy again. 

I will say, you do need to make sure the child is not being too rough on the page while turning it. Most of the time the page turns smoothly, but there are times it gets stuck, which could rip the page where the tab is attached. I am happy to say it hasn't happened to our book, but our first page was a bit hard to turn when we first received it. 

All in all, this is just an adorable board book which I can't wait to give to one of our grandchildren. 

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow to see my next book review.