My Blue Is Happy - by Jessica Young

Book Synopsis

"Engaging. . . . Art teachers will gravitate toward this upbeat title to let children begin to explore the importance of color." --School Library Journal

Your neighbor says red is angry like a dragon's breath, but you think it's brave like a fire truck. Or maybe your best friend likes pink because it's pretty like a ballerina's tutu, but you find it annoying--like a piece of gum stuck on your shoe. In a subtle, child-friendly narrative, art teacher and debut author Jessica Young suggests that colors may evoke as many emotions as there are people to look at them--and opens up infinite possibilities for seeing the world in a wonderful new way.

Review Quotes

Young's plainly delivered, poetic text achieves a subtly conspiratorial tone, as the little girl establishes the specialness of brown chocolate syrup and gray's "curled-up kitten" coziness. ... An ... interesting meditation on the resonance of color, for classroom or family sharing.
--Kirkus Reviews

In this engaging story, a little girl realizes that not everyone feels the same about colors. ... Art teachers will gravitate toward this upbeat title to let children begin to explore the importance of color.
--School Library Journal

The emotional statements about colors are effectively grounded in evocative, kid-oriented similes that add substance for listeners trying to make sense of the abstract relationship between colors and feelings. ... At the core of the narrative is the celebratory idea that people experience the world differently and that there is no end of possibilities in perspective, making this a remarkably useful text not only for color units but for exploring themes of community and the ways people are alike and different.
--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Readers and young listeners can have some good conversations about their own color perceptions after sharing this warm, deceptively simple concept book.
--The Horn Book

I love Jessica Young's MY BLUE IS HAPPY! I'm adding it to my list of must-have books to inspire creative thinking. Catia Chien's vivid art is delightful, while really driving home the book's much-needed message about thinking beyond stereotypes. Highly recommended not just for art teachers, but for any teacher or parent wanting to inspire children to think more creatively about color, art, and our world.
--Peter H. Reynolds

In this delightfully original picture book, author Jessica Young takes a fresh look at familiar colors, using them as the foundation for a story that celebrates individuality and the pleasures of living in a world informed by multiple perspectives.
--BookPage Children's Corner

Children ages 3 to 6 will love this rich rainbow book... Sad, happy, mad, or glad, the kaleidoscope of colors opens up infinite possibilites for seeing the world from other perspectives.
--Kiwi Magazine

About the Author

Jessica Young is a former art teacher and curriculum consultant. She writes picture books and chapter books for young readers and lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Catia Chien has illustrated numerous books for children including The Sea Serpent and Me by Dashka Slater and The Longest Night: A Passover Story by Laurel Snyder. My Blue Is Happy is her first book with Candlewick Press. Catia Chien was born in Brazil and currently lives in California.