cover image You Are My Happy

You Are My Happy

Hoda Kotb, illus. by Suzie Mason. HarperCollins, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-288789-4

Today show anchor Kotb and illustrator Mason follow up I’ve Loved You Since Forever with a second story about parental love and devotion. A bear cub and mother bear prepare to snuggle down for bed as the sun sets over the mountains, rendered in digital art. The bears reflect on “what made us happy all day through.” Prose is written in simple, rhyming verse describing moments of quiet togetherness in the duo’s lakeside meadowland. The bear cub is thankful “for growing tall, for lucky breaks, and even learning from mistakes”—the cub is pictured inching away from a fallen beehive. Other animals are introduced, including a raccoon kit, a rabbit parent and child, and a duck and ducklings, who interact with one another and the cub throughout the scenes. Kotb and Mason follow a familiar formula that seems more for adults than their offspring, but fans will embrace the sentiments. Ages 4–8. [em](Mar.) [/em]