About the Author

Since he started writing and illustrating children's books in 1990, Colin Thompson has had more than 60 books published. He has received several awards, including an Aurealis Award for the novel HOW TO LIVE FOREVER and the CBC Picture Book of the Year in 2006 for THE SHORT AND INCREDIBLY HAPPY LIFE OF RILEY. He has been shortlisted for many other awards, including the Astrid Lindgren Award - the most prestigious children's literature prize in the world. Colin lives in Bellingen, Australia. His books with Random House Australia include HOW TO LIVE FOREVER, numerous picture books, THE FLOODS series, THE DRAGONS series, THE BIG LITTLE BOOK OF HAPPY SADNESS picture book, which was shortlisted for the 2009 Children s Book Council Award for Best Picture Book, and FREE TO A GOOD HOME. Visit his website at- www.colinthompson.com

Reviews

Gr 1-4-George, a sad little orphan, lives with his sweet-faced grandmother but feels very much alone. When on his Friday afternoon visit to the dog shelter he finds a three-legged dog that seems as unwanted as he feels himself to be, he engages his grandmother's help to adopt the scruffy pup before it is euthanized. This act rescues the boy as well as his grandmother, and a family is born. Thompson never talks down to his readers and the story is simple, clear, and heartfelt enough to be universally understood. The illustrations are full of personality and extraordinary detail: the brick wall by the dog compound and the trees crowding into the narrow bit of sky above it look like exquisite photographs. Thompson indulges in his trademark visual puns, including the presence in the shelter of Kevin, the dog from Sometimes Love Is Under Your Foot (Scholastic, 2008). There is no doubt that he is a more accomplished artist than writer, and some readers may become impatient with the long denouement in which George and his grandmother experiment with making Jeremy a fourth leg out of paper, pastry, and wood. But by that point, the tone of the book has become hopeful, so it's easy to be indulgent. The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness is aptly named and well worth reading.-Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Award-winning author and illustrator Colin Thompson is well known for his sometimes dark, yet poignant stories about life and the world around us. His characters are often all too real as they grasp with the big issues of the real world in search of a brief glimpse of happiness, to the point where I am not quite sure whether the book is a children's book or would be more appropriately classified as a picture book for adults. Thompson's latest book, however, is more easily placed in the children's book genre- but is not without its deeper undertones. George is a lonely boy who lives with his grandmother. On Friday afternoons after school George stops by the local dog shelter because it is here that his loneliness is mirrored. Until he finds Jeremy and discovers what it feels like to fill the emptiness and bridge the generational distance with his grandmother, as they invite the three-legged dog into their lives. This is a simple story yet emotionally evokes that transition from sadness to happiness, a place so far from emptiness and loneliness. Beautifully told and illustrated with Colin Thompson's distinct style The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness will be enjoyed by readers young and old. Candice Cappe is the manager of the National Library of Australia Bookshop in Canberra