Key Selling Points

• My Heart Fills With Happiness won the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Prize in 2017.
• Author Monique Gray Smith has also written the bestselling picture book You Hold Me Up and the middle-grade nonfiction book Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation.
• This book features a beautiful array of Indigenous children and multigenerational families.
• The dual-language English/Plains Cree edition of this book was selected for the 2019 TD Grade One Book Giveaway.
• Monique Gray Smith dedicated this book to the former Indian Residential School students and their families.
• My Heart Fills With Happiness has been translated into French, Spanish, Plains Cree and Anishinaabemowin.

Monique Gray Smith is a mixed-heritage woman of Cree, Lakota and Scottish ancestry and a proud mom of twins. Monique is an accomplished consultant, writer and international speaker. Her first novel, Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience, won the 2014 Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature. Monique's picture book My Heart Fills With Happiness won the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize and was selected as the TD Grade One Giveaway Book for all grade one students in Canada in 2019. Monique and her family are blessed to live on Lekwungen territory in Victoria, British Columbia.

Julie Flett is a Swampy Cree and Red River Métis artist and author. She studied fine arts at Concordia University in Montreal and Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, British Columbia. She won the Governor General’s Award for Children’s Literature for her work on When We Were Alone by David Robertson, and her book Birdsong won the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award. She is the three-time recipient of the Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Award for Owls See Clearly at Night: A Michif Alphabet, Dolphin SOS and My Heart Fills With Happiness.

? "A quiet loveliness, sense of gratitude, and—yes—happiness emanate from this tender celebration of simple pleasures, which features a cast of First Nations children and adults...Short, first-person phrases...revel in both solitary and familial activities...Flett’s (Little You) crisp-edged paintings blend universal and culturally specific experiences." - Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A board book that leaves you feeling cheerful and appreciative of those small moments in life that bring one joy. Recommended." - CM Magazine

? "Joyful and tender, this board book celebrates the activities that bring gladness through family and cultural connections...Flett’s quietly powerful gouache and digital collage illustrations emphasize the relationships between people...The sweet family story has universal appeal. A first purchase for all libraries." - School Library Journal, starred review

"A celebration of aboriginal culture...but also universal in its message: sometimes it's the simplest things that lift our spirits highest...[The book] is beautiful in both its appearance and its intention." - Quill & Quire

“A comforting board book offers young children the opportunity for reflection, and for affirmation, too. Moments of happiness tucked into each and every day celebrated here include time with family, self-expression, and the natural world." - Cooperative Children’s Book Center

"[A] light, warm and utterly charming book...Highly recommended for families, parents of young children to share with them and to begin conversation and sharing about emotions." - Resource Links

"An excellent board book for every baby Canadian." - The Toronto Star

"Specific visuals ground this sweet celebration of simple pleasures." - Kirkus Reviews

"It is a fantastic toddler book that celebrates family and heritage and would be valuable in any collection, especially those of First Nations heritage." - Raising Mom blog