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 books You Hold Me Up, When We Are Kind and the middle-grade nonfiction book Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation.
• Illustrator Julie Flett received a BolognaRagazzi Special Mention (2019) for her book with Richard Van Camp, We Sang You Home.
• This book features a beautiful array of Indigenous children and multigenerational families.
• The dual language English/Plains Cree edition 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 an award-winning, bestselling author and public speaker. Her books cover a broad spectrum of ages, topics and emotions. Woven into all of Monique’s writing and her speaking engagements is the teaching that Love is Medicine. Her books include Speaking our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, My Heart Fills With Happiness, You Hold Me Up, Lucy and Lola, Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience, Tilly and the Crazy Eights, When We Are Kind and I Hope. She has also created the young adult adaptation of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Monique is Cree and Scottish. She lives with her family on the Traditional Territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən and WSÁNEĆ Peoples.

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.

Mary Cardinal Collins is a semi-retired teacher, fluent Cree speaker and translator.

The Cree Literacy Network was created in 2010 to promote Cree language and cultural literacy, in oral form and through literacy materials. Through the essential tool of standard spelling, the Cree Literacy Network supports the fundamental right of Cree speakers to understand and be understood.

Marketing and Promotional Plans

• Print and online advertising campaigns
• Promotion at national and regional school, library and trade conferences
• Extensive ARC distribution, including NetGalley
• Blog and social media promotion
• Outreach in Orca newsletter
• Continued promotion with Orca’s dual-language titles

★ "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

★ "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

"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

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

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

"[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

"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 Centre

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