Son of Happy

by Cary Fagan, Milan Pavlovic (Illustrator)

Overview

How would you feel if your dad were a clown?

The boy in this story never wants to go to his friends’ birthday parties, because Happy the Clown is always there. And Happy is … his dad.

He wishes his dad had a regular job, like all the other kids’ parents. He didn’t mind his dad being a clown when he was a little kid, but now it’s just embarrassing. And even worse, since business is slow, his dad is putting a sign on the front lawn advertising his clown services!

But one night at dinner Dad announces that he’s going back to his old job of being a lawyer. “You were a lawyer?” the boy asks, incredulous.

Now his dad wears a suit and tie to work, the family can buy a new car, his mom can take piano lessons, and he can have a skateboard and cellphone. But something feels different. The boy wonders if his dad misses being a clown. Or is he the one who misses Happy?

With bittersweet humor, Cary Fagan brings us a story about a boy’s growing consciousness and a father’s realization that he can be himself.

Key Text Features
speech bubbles

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3
Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781773061788
Publisher:	Groundwood Books
Publication date:	08/01/2020
Pages:	44
Product dimensions:	7.25(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	540L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

CARY FAGAN writes books for children and adults. He has won the Vicky Metcalf Award for Children’s Literature, the Jewish Book Award, the IODE Jean Throop Book Award and the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, among others. His picture books include A Cage Went in Search of a Bird, illustrated by Banafsheh Erfanian, and Son of Happy, illustrated by Milan Pavlović, which was named one of the Best Canadian Picture Books of 2020 by CBC Books. Cary lives with his family in Toronto.

MILAN PAVLOVIĆ lives in Toronto with his family. When he is not illustrating picture books, drawing or playing the ukulele, he is teaching visual communication and illustration at OCAD Universityand Seneca College. He has illustrated over fifty children's books including Son of Happy by Cary Fagan, The Boy Who Invented the Popsicle by Anne Renaud, and Moon Wishes by Guy and Patricia Storms. He created the lyrical wordless picture book Sonata for Fish and Boy.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Praise for author Cary Fagan and illustrator Milan Pavlović for Son of Happy:

CBC Books Best Canadian Picture Books of 2020

“[A] heartwarming story … Milan Pavlović’s mixed-media illustrations have a childlike feel with scribbly lines and crayon shading. … Cary Fagan’s text is ideal for early readers — simple with lots of short sentences and a pleasing rhythm.” — Quill & Quire, starred review

“[A] tender story.” — Canadian Children’s Book News

“[An] impressively entertaining story for young readers.” — Midwest Book Review

“This story warms my heart. … This is perfect fare for kids who want a longer book to read.” — Sal’s Fiction Addiction Blog

“A thoughtful, introspective read.” — Fab Book Reviews Blog

“[R]ecommended for children who are going through age-related changes that can sometimes cause a rift or friction in their relationship with parents.” — CM Review of Materials

Praise for author Cary Fagan and illustrator Banafsheh Erfanian for A Cage Went in Search of a Bird:

“An original and thought-provoking exploration of the rhythms of friendship.” — Kirkus, starred review

Praise for Cary Fagan and The Hollow under the Tree:

“An excellent read … [T]his short chapter book will please animal enthusiasts and readers of tales about brave girls alike.”— Kirkus

“[A] quick read for younger middle-grade readers looking for slightly offbeat mysteries.”— School Library Journal

Praise for author Heather Hartt-Sussmann and illustrator Milan Pavlović for Seamus’s Short Story:

“The illustrations, in rich watercolor and colored pencil, are elegantly patterned and arranged on white backgrounds. The illustrations of Seamus joyfully grabbing the remote and absconding with his embarrassing baby picture are particularly exuberant.”— School Library Journal, starred review

Praise for author Rolli and illustrator Milan Pavlović for Kabungo:

“… grayscale illustrations by comic artist Pavlović make this surreal tale seem almost real … Fresh and original …”— Kirkus, starred review

Praise for authors Guy and Patricia Storms and illustrator Milan Pavlović for Moon Wishes:

“Pavlović’s spreads slow down the reading experience with mixed-media artwork that dances like the northern lights, each colour blurring and rippling into the next. . . . Moon Wishes embodies complete calm in its textual and visual lyricism.” — Quill & Quire

Editorial Reviews

[A] heartwarming story … Milan Pavlović’s mixed-media illustrations have a childlike feel with scribbly lines and crayon shading. … Cary Fagan’s text is ideal for early readers — simple with lots of short sentences and a pleasing rhythm.” — Quill & Quire

“[An] impressively entertaining story for young readers.” — Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

[A] heartwarming story … Milan Pavlović’s mixed-media illustrations have a childlike feel with scribbly lines and crayon shading. … Cary Fagan’s text is ideal for early readers — simple with lots of short sentences and a pleasing rhythm.

Quill & Quire

[An] impressively entertaining story for young readers.

Midwest Book Review

[A] heartwarming story … Milan Pavlović’s mixed-media illustrations have a childlike feel with scribbly lines and crayon shading. … Cary Fagan’s text is ideal for early readers — simple with lots of short sentences and a pleasing rhythm.

Quill and Quire

2020-03-29
A boy decides to follow in his father’s comically large footsteps.

The unnamed white Jewish protagonist clearly doesn’t want to go to his friends’ parties. Mom forces him to, but the visiting entertainment at each of them, a classic red-nosed, white-faced, huge-pantsed clown who makes balloon animals, leaves him cold. When Happy the Clown asks him, “And what kind of animal do you want, young man?” he answers, “That’s okay, Dad.…I’ll pass.” The boy confesses to a friend that he doesn’t like clowns and wishes his father had a “regular” job, like being an accountant, but when the clowning business goes down and Dad goes back to being a lawyer, the boy starts to realize what he’s missing. This small-trim picture book has long blocks of text on most spreads, narrowing its read-aloud audience to patient lapsitters. But absence of controlled vocabulary keeps it off the early-reader shelf, nor is it an early chapter book. Some similarly uncategorizable stories can be made to work, but unfortunately this one suffers from an emotionally flat story with little to no tension or intrigue to keep readers of any level engaged. The loose gray and colored-pencil illustrations tonally match the story but don’t add excitement or depth to the pages.

A pro-clown missive that fails to entertain. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews