Rebecca Finds Happiness

by Gina Harris, Hayley Anderson (Illustrator)

Rebecca wants to be happy, but it's going to take a little work. When she meets a new girl named Tara, she learns that the real secret to happiness is less about what you get, than about what you give. A beautiful book about the power of kindness and generosity.


Author_Bio: Gina was a preschool teacher for a number of years, and always especially looked forward to story time. Her love of children's books eventually led her to write her own. She currently lives in Denver with her husband and daughter, one dog, two cats and three chickens.

Hayley is a graduate student at Arizona State University studying psychology. She has been deeply passionate about art since she was a young girl and hopes to go into art therapy when she graduates.


Keywords: Childrens Book Happiness, Childrens Book Kindness, Generosity, Life Lessons, Girl Power, Virtues For Kids, Being Happy, How To Be Kind, Feelings

Genres: Childrens

19 pages, Paperback

Published December 13, 2017

About the author

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Reviews

[TarHeelReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an important little children’s book about finding happiness. Rebecca could not find happiness in anything she tried until she met Tara and observed how happy she was. Rebecca then thought about why Tara was happy, and even asked Tara about it. Rebecca tried a few of those things and noticed how sharing and helping out would also make her happier. I think children and parents will benefit from reading this book and discussing it. Beautiful illustrations, too!

Thank you to Gina Harris, First Edition Design Publishing, and Netgalley, for the complimentary copy.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Rebecca Finds Happiness' is about a little girl who wants to be happy, but quickly finds that material things are not making her happy. The discovery of happiness comes in the form of meeting a new school-friend, Tara. Rebecca observes Tara's behaviour and notices that Tara's happiness comes from helping others, and this in turn makes Tara and those around her happy. Rebecca tries this out herself, and she becomes much happier on the whole. This is a really heart-warming story that teaches young people that kindness and generosity are very important, and the message has been delivered very well.

Unfortunately the illustrations left a lot to be desired, and the ending was abrupt and a little too 'once upon a time' fairy story, but other than that this was a great book.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a sweet book. The simplest formula for happiness, written to be easy for children to grasp. But I think most adults could benefit from this book too.

[Storywraps · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Rebecca Finds Happiness" has a positive message to deliver but the delivery falls a bit short.

Rebecca is a very unhappy little girl. She tries to find happiness by asking for lots of new toys from her parents. She gets bored of them pretty quickly and discovers that toys do not equal happiness. She then thinks that if she does whatever she wants that will be the key to her happiness. She stays up all night eating mountains of candy. Yes, that should make her happy right? Alas, that too fails. All that does is make her feel sick and have a tummy ache the next morning. She is a pretty good dancer and decides to be the best in her ballet class. That too falls flat as sometimes the other ballerinas would dance much better. This makes Rebecca jealous and mad. Oh dear how can she attain happiness in her life? Will she ever be happy?

She meets a new girl at her school named Tara who seems to be the epitome of happiness. Rebecca, through interacting and observing how Tara acquires her happiness, finally discovers the magical, real secret. She learns from Tara that giving is much better than receiving and that acts of kindness and generosity are powerful tools to obtain long lasting happiness in your life. Happiness comes from within not from without.

I must admit that this book has so much potential but the characters are not developed strongly enough and the illustrations do little to drive and boost the storyline. The colour pallet is lovely but the size and expressiveness of the pictures lacks the punch to keep kids engaged, especially if you are sharing the book in a group situation. This book is like a kernel of corn.... the kernel is there but it didn't pop and it could have for sure.

[Elley Murray · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art is nothing special (and actually looks a lot like something I drew in middle school for a Gifted & Talented program where you wrote, illustrated, and bound your own book...) and the story was flat. Spoiled unhappy blonde girl meets self-effacing black girl who is always happy because she's so kind and good. Unhappy blonde girl decides to start being less spoiled and more nice to people and then finds out that makes her happy. Trite and not compellingly written. Even my 3 year old wasn't interested in this story.

*I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was particularly interested in this title when I saw the illustrator has aspirations for art therapy, and found myself intrigued by the uses of color throughout the story. Rebecca looks for happiness through the typical methods we are enculturated to try: consumerism, hedonism, and success. However, she eventually discovers that rooting her identity in her work will not lead to happiness, but that selflessness might be the key. The ending felt a bit abrupt; I found myself wanting an illustration of the girls as adults.

I received a reviewer's edition of this book through NetGalley.

[RedRobinXXX · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rebecca is a little girl who is never happy for long. She wants what others have but after getting them realised it's not made her truly happy. Then another girl joins the class and looks so happy all the time. Rebecca watches her and discovers by helping others and giving things to others you are creating true happiness.
A lovely simple book which really gets the message across. The pictures are sweet too and don't take anything away from the story.