150 Happy Facts by The Happy Broadcast - The Happy Broadcast

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AUTHOR: The Happy Broadcast, Keith Bonnici

ILLUSTRATOR: Mauro Gatti
GENRE: Children's Nonfiction.
RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: A happy and hopeful book for kids (and adults) who want to have more cheer in their lives. Fab intent, good quality content.

All of us know that the media (traditional or digital) likes to bombard us with panic-inducing news and clickbait headlines. In this day and age, where mental health also gets affected due to our being constantly surrounded by negativity, even little efforts to spread more happiness in people’s lives are necessary and worth appreciating. That’s where such books come in. As the title indicates, this is a compilation of 150 happy facts from the last few years.

Illustrator Mauro Gatti created ‘The Happy Broadcast’ (THB) in 2018 after being fed up of the media focus being only on worrisome events. He began to draw good news and share it on social media. The reach and impact of his little attempt was much beyond his dreams. One of his fans, Keith Bonnici, collaborated with Gatti to enhance the scope of THB even further. This book is a result of both their efforts.

The 150 facts in this book range from environment-friendly laws, to animal conservation efforts, to acknowledgment of previously ignored issues such as mental health or menstrual pain, to reduction of garbage, and a lot more. Each fact is presented in a fixed format – a cute illustration at the top of the page, the fact in a brief headline-style snippet, and 1-2 paragraphs detailing the fact. After having recently read 'The Forest Keeper– The True Story of Jadav Payeng’, I was happy to see his story mentioned in this book too, though I was not satisfied with the illustration that accompanied it – Jadav wasn’t a hat-and-trousers-wearing westerner.

The facts are definitely as wholesome as the book promises, and will surely be mood-enhancers for kids. (The book is aimed at readers aged 7-12 years.) Adults will also enjoy the content. After all, we too have a great need for a glimmer of hope in our lives. Of course, some adults (such as grumpy moi) might be a bit too picky about some of the inclusions. It was a stretch to call them ‘happy facts’ because they were only stating plans and intentions than what has already taken place. If only intentions were good enough, the planet wouldn’t be in the dire situation it is right now. Some of the details in the explanation even ended up shocking me. Like, it mentioned that in the US, up to 40% of the food ends up in landfills. What?!?!!? Why?!??!

My Indian heart was amused to see that some of the happy changes are related to what we have been following in India since ages. We hardly ever waste food, we don’t rush to buy new electronics the minute our current device/appliance has stopped working, we repair things until they can no longer be salvaged, we’ve always been more plant-oriented in our diets, and we’ve recycled since even before the trend became popular. Of course, globalisation has resulted in the younger generation turning towards the Western use-and-throw culture. I hope we return to our roots because our ways were and are (with a few exceptions) among the safest for the planet.

(Let me also add that we have our own version of THB. The Better India was founded in 2009—nine years before THB!—to focus on positive stories springing from our country.)

Enough of India. Back to this book!

The illustrations are really cute and the vibrant colours serve well to add a further pop of happiness to the content.

Overall, this book does achieve what it set out to do – spread hope and positivity in the hearts of its readers. I hope it spurs not just happiness but also a willingness to change habits for the betterment of the earth. A happy planet leads to happy people – not the other way around.

My thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for the DRC of “150 Happy Facts by The Happy Broadcast”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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