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Sandra Boynton

 Sandra Boynton has written several stone-cold classics; high on the list is "Happy Hippo, Angry Duck."


The title "owns" the reader. How could you not open the front cover?

Then, the first lines are simple, direct, and engaging:

Hello, Little Person!
How ARE you today?
Is your mood quite terrific--
Or only okay?

Boynton's imagination now climbs to the stratosphere; she has invented a gallery of animals with strong feelings. We accept that these animals exist, because Boynton says that they exist. "Perhaps, like a pig, you are sweetly amused. Perhaps, like a cow, you're completely confused." "Are you happy like a hippo? Are you angry like a duck? Are you sad like a chicken? Can you sadly say, cluck, cluck?"

Having exposed children to several emotions, Boynton ends with hard-earned wisdom:

I hope you are happy--
But if you are not--
You have friends who will help you.
We like you a lot.

And a difficult mood is not here to stay--
Everyone's mood will change day to day.

(There's a surprising "button," as well.)

I just don't know of anyone matching this "light touch." Boynton builds a little universe--with the fewest possible words. We don't see her breaking a sweat.
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