Because Amelia Smiled [Hardcover]

Just try not to smile! A positively inspiring picture book from the creator of the Caldecott Honor–winningInterrupting Chicken.

Because Amelia smiles as she skips down the street, her neighbor Mrs. Higgins smiles too, and decides to send a care package of cookies to her grandson Lionel in Mexico. The cookies give Lionel an idea, and his idea inspires a student, who in turn inspires a ballet troupe in England! And so the good feelings that started with Amelia’s smile make their way around the world, from a goodwill recital in Israel, to an impromptu rumba concert in Paris, to a long-awaited marriage proposal in Italy, to a knitted scarf for a beloved niece back in New York. Putting a unique spin on "what goes around comes around," David Ezra Stein’s charmingly illustrated story reminds us that adding even a small dose of kindness into the world is sure to spur more and more kindness, which could eventually make its way back to you!David Ezra Stein’s crayon art is playful and vivid.
—The New York Times

A playfully profound picture book that does its part in passing on good feelings.
—Kirkus Reviews

Realistic, heavily colored, and intensely detailed, the illustrations invite children to look closely and see the way people across the globe are connected: the smiles, the pets, the music. Certainly there’s a lot to discuss here, and some adults may want kids to make connections with their own actions, but this is also just a lovely way to look at life.
—Booklist

A series of kindly acts comes full circle in this heartwarming, yet never saccharine story from Stein. . . . Stein’s spreads are dense with colored pencil and crayon lines and crammed with visual information. . . . Night and day, light and shadow, groups of old and young people spending time together: it’s a satisfying portrait of the feast of life. Even youngest children will grasp the idea thal#&