I'm Glad That You're Happy
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
“[About] accept[ing] the inevitability of change and the importance of supporting others’ success and growth.”—Publishers Weekly
When a florist puts two plants in the same rosy-colored pot, he tells the bigger, stronger plant to look after the smaller, weaker one. An artist buys the plants and takes them home, where they become part of the family, celebrating happy occasions and feeling sorrowful during hard times. But as time passes and the plants grow, the pot becomes too small, and the two must be separated. While this makes the larger plant sad, it still rejoices in the way the smaller one flourishes on its own, and looks forward to the day when they will be planted in the artist’s garden to grow into trees together.
Nahid Kazemi has created a charming, beautifully illustrated story about accepting growth and change in close relationships.
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.7
>With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2
>Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4
>dentify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3
>Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7
>Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In a lyrical, allegorical story, an anthropomorphic leafy plant is potted with another plant: "You have to take care of your little friend. It is smaller and weaker than you," advises the florist. When the plants are taken home to live and grow with a painter and his family, they quietly observe the joys and sorrows of the household. Kazemi's hazy, dreamlike images are infused with gentle melancholy as warmly stylized human figures wearing patterned clothing echoed by Kazemi's depictions of climbing, curling vines and leaves enjoy "times of happiness" and endure "times of despair." When the plant's friend grows strong, beautiful, and too large for their shared pot, the painter moves the friend to its own home: "My roots were entwined in yours. Leaving you was hard," the plant says. Yet it accepts the inevitability of change and the importance of supporting others' success and growth. Ages 4 7.