Son of Happy
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The boy in this story never wants to go to his friendsтАЩ birthday parties, because Happy the Clown is always there. And Happy is ... his dad.
He wishes his dad had a regular job, like all the other kidsтАЩ parents. He didnтАЩt mind his dad being a clown when he was a little kid, but now itтАЩs just embarrassing. And even worse, since business is slow, his dad is putting a sign on the front lawn advertising his clown services!
But one night at dinner Dad announces that heтАЩs going back to his old job of being a lawyer. тАЬYou were a lawyer?тАЭ the boy asks, incredulous.
Now his dad wears a suit and tie to work, the family can buy a new car, his mom can take piano lessons, and he can have a skateboard and cellphone. But something feels different. The boy wonders if his dad misses being a clown. Or is he the one who misses Happy?
With bittersweet humor, Cary Fagan brings us a story about a boyтАЩs growing consciousness and a fatherтАЩs realization that he can be himself.
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Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3
Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).
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CARY FAGAN writes books for children and adults. He has won the Vicky Metcalf Award for ChildrenтАЩs Literature, the Jewish Book Award, the IODE Jean Throop Book Award and the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, among others. His picture books include A Cage Went in Search of a Bird, illustrated by Banafsheh Erfanian, and Son of Happy, illustrated by Milan Pavlovi─З, which was named one of the Best Canadian Picture Books of 2020 by CBC Books. Cary lives with his family in Toronto.
MILAN PAVLOVI─Ж lives in Toronto with his family. When he is not illustrating picture books, drawing or playing the ukulele, he is teaching visual communication and illustration at OCAD University and Seneca College. He has illustrated over fifty children's books including Son of Happy by Cary Fagan, The Boy Who Invented the Popsicle by Anne Renaud, and Moon Wishes by Guy and Patricia Storms. He created the lyrical wordless picture book Sonata for Fish and Boy.
