Picture book review : Happy - Pharrell Williams

"Because I'm happy

Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you know what happiness is to you

Because I'm happy

Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do"

If ever there was an anthem for modern times, it has to be Happy by Pharrell Williams. Nominated for an Academy Award, it was the best-selling song of 2014 in the United Kingdom, and has topped the charts in more than seventy-five countries worldwide. It has had the world dancing ever since it first hit the airwaves and its uplifting lyrics are the perfect antidote to all the horrors going on in the world at the moment.

The irresistibly cheerful tune has now come to life on paper with Pharrell Williams's very first picture book. It features the lyrics of the song, with the feel-good factor intensified by the photos of happy, smiling, excited kids accompanying the texts.

The photos represent children of all cultures, helping to spread the message of harmony, tolerance and friendship without borders that seems even more important now, in light of recent events.

 All the exuberance of the song pulses from these vibrant photographs and, if you're anything like us, you won't be able to resist singing along and chair-dancing as you turn the pages !

The cynics amongst you might be thinking that this is just a marketing ploy to get more money out of the song, but Pharrell Williams has partnered up with a nonprofit literacy organization called FirstBook to help spread the happiness of reading by donating up to 50,000 books to children in low-income families. You can do your bit on social media by telling @penguinkids why you love to read with the hashtag #readHAPPY to make a donation.

star rating : 4/5

RRP : £10.99

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (8 Oct. 2015)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141365285
• ISBN-13: 978-0141365282
• Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 1 x 27.5 cm

Disclosure : We received the book in order to write an honest review.