Where Happiness Lives is a beautifully illustrated, lift the flap tale of three mice who live in three different sized houses. But which mouse is happiest? Does living in a bigger house with fountains and a games room make you happier than living in a cosy cottage full of family?
The Story: Grey Mouse lives with his large family in a small house. One day while walking he sees a bigger house and wishes he lived there. The owner, a white mouse, points to an even larger, grander house on a hill so the two mice go and visit. But despite the opulence and space that the brown mouse has, she often looks through her telescope at a small house full of happy mice…
At the end of the story the three mice realise that their own homes are just right for them. Grey Mouse’s house, although small, is a happy home and he is surprised to discover that the brown mouse looks at his house when she is feeling lonely. We love the final double spread where the mice stand looking at the stars, hand in hand, each one quietly appreciating their own happiness.
Greg Abbott’s illustrations perfectly complement the rhyming text and it’s fun to lift the flaps and look through the cutouts to the next page. The mice are really cute and we love the double spread showing Grey Mouse and his family (we counted 22 mice living in his house!). It shows mice cleaning their teeth, climbing a tree, reading, playing ball – it’s a busy picture which contrasts with the size and grandeur of the brown mouse’s house where she lives all alone, eating off gold plates and gazing at the stars through a dome in the roof.
Where Happiness Lives conveys a great message that it’s not the size of your house or the number of possessions you have that make you happy. It could be used to stimulate a classroom discussion about where children live and could also encourage them to talk about what or who makes them happy.
This is a really heartwarming story and Grey Mouse sums up how all the characters feel when he says;
“Whatever your home, it is happy indeed…’
Age Range: 3 +
Author: Barry Timms / Illustrator: Greg Abbott
Thank you to Little Tiger Press for sending us a copy of this beautifully illustrated book.
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