IF YOU'RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT

A bevy of Australian beasts invite little ones who are happy—and know it—to join them in showing it.

Purple koala bears shimmy up trees and offer the opening lines “If you’re happy and you know it, // clap your hands!” Those who have heard this tune before may expect the line to repeat, but the next two spreads instead introduce googly-eyed orange kangaroos in a desert and march right into “If you’re happy and you know it, // stomp your feet!” The illustrations are unpleasantly loud, with pinstripe backgrounds and intense gazes from the animals. What might be baby wombats round out the singing animal crew with “If you’re happy and you know it, // smile BIG and really show it!” before abruptly concluding with “If you’re happy / and you know it, / clap your hands!” Starting the song over again with a reread is an option, but the book on its own feels like one verse instead of a complete tune. It is too short even for the youngest children, who need repetition to learn and mirror motions. It is too souped up in cheer even for a song about happiness. And the color scheme is disjointed, with the wombats shown in a more natural brown and the kangaroos and koalas in more off-the-wall hues. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A weak adaptation of the popular song.