The Jar of Happiness

PreS-Gr 1—An uplifting picture book debut. A girl named Meg, after experimenting with numerous items and liquid-filled beakers, invents her own kind of happiness. It "taste[s] of chocolate ice cream, apple juice and sunshine" and smells like "warm cookies and the ocean." Once her concoction is made, she bottles it up and takes it with her wherever she goes. Her jar of happiness brings joy to anyone she visits; however, one day the jar goes missing. While Meg is understandably sad, she soon realizes that happiness is created by the people you surround yourself with and the activities you do. The soft, colorful illustrations allow the story to be told independently, and Burrows uses white space well to effectively convey the characters' moods. The illustrator shines in how she conveys Meg playing in numerous ways, including using puppets, painting, trying a science experiment, and even creating a stuffed animal band. All of these extension activities pair well with the story.