I Know Happy: A Book About Feeling Happy, Excited, and Proud

PreS-Gr 2–A narrator with tan skin and light brown hair learns to listen to her body’s clues to determine what emotion she’s feeling. “When it feels like I can hardly wait for something fun,” she knows she’s excited. “My muscles are relaxed. My heartbeat is steady,” she reports, realizing that’s what happy feels like. She records all this in her “feelings detective notebook.” The narrative makes clear that she doesn’t always know what she’s feeling, and that’s okay; she also understands that emotions can switch in a minute. Her family is diverse; readers first meet her grandmother and then the rest of the family at home. This book offers children a guide that may prove helpful in group settings, for sparking conversations. It tends to meander, building the story around salient points instead of creating a compelling story, but it’s an effective way of opening up the topic.