Mr. Happy (Mr. Men, #3) by Roger Hargreaves

Mr. Happy (Mr. Men, #3) Reviews

• 
  Sean Barrs

  I do like Mr Happy: he gets what’s important. As John Lennon once said:
  
  “When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”
  
  Mr Happy knows. Listen to Mr Happy. He’s got the right outlook, optimism pure and simple. It gets him through the day; it gets him through life. So why not try it?
  
• 
  Ken

  One of the most recognizable Mr. Men characters alongside a great uplifting message.
  
  Once Mr. Happy realises that Mr. Miserable was on his own, he instantly invited him back to his house for a chat.
  
  A nice simple message of reaching out to the lonely and vulnerable, we all need to be more like Mr. Happy.
• 
  Michael Finocchiaro

  The Mr. Mr. series is absolutely splendid works for kids! Especially small ones. They are hilarious and cute and have wonderful little morals! Mr Happy was one of our favourites!
• 
  Books Ring Mah Bell

  My son has been obsessed with smiley faces since an early age. Smiley face balloons, balls, stickers, shirts... all things smiley rate way high for my Sam. This water tower has fascinated him for a few years now:
  
  I blame all this joy on the anti-depressants that must have seeped into my breast milk.
  
  Whatever the case, he's a super happy kid that loves a good smiley face.
  
  His first encounter with the Mr. Happy books happened to be... not a book. In search of valentines, he saw a box of Mr./Little Miss valentines, with smiley on the front, and was instantly smitten. I asked if he had seen the books at his school, and he replied no. He just wanted them because of that happy face! So I got the valentines for him and promptly got some of these books for him. (Mr. Happy, Mr. Strong, Mr. Noisy)
  
  I recalled them for my childhood, and it was a delight re-reading them with my boy.
  
  The stories are silly, the illustrations are bright and bold...
  
  While I feel it's silly to give this book (and entire series) a 5-star, "it was AMAZING" rating, I have to. Because when I peek in on my kid at night and he's zonked out with a smile on his face and one of these books in his hand, it's ... well... it's amazing.
  
• 
  Paul

  I never liked Mr. Happy as a child. I'm not sure why; I think he might have seemed overwhelmingly smug to me back then... or perhaps I just didn't trust people who seemed to be happy for no reason.
  
  Returning to this book as an adult I'm more inclined to like him but I do still have some slight issues with the story. Mr. Happy seems to cheer up Mr. Miserable just by taking him outdoors. There's no conversation about why it's better to be happy or any reasons given to be happy... he just takes him outdoors and the pair of them just start rolling around on the floor, laughing like loons, for no reason. I can only conclude they took some illicit substance 'off-panel' as it were.
  
  I love the Mr. Men but this is a weird little book. There is, of course, a good chance I'm overthinking this.
  
  My next book:
  The First Book of Urizen
• 
  Calista

  Mr. Happy has enough happiness for Mr Miserable as well. One day exploring his world, he finds a little down with stairs down to a dreary basement with the most miserable person in the world. Mr. Happy invites him up to his house to be happy. What I like is that Mr. Happy is willing to let Mr. Miserable take his time and get better. It was gradual and Mr. Happy didn’t rush him in the story. Mr Miserable did become happy.
  
  My nephew loved this story. Yeah. Great series.
  
• 
  R.A.

  Folks, if you are feeling miserable - and even if you're not - go read this Mr. Happy book, because it will cheer you up! :D
  
  Favourite lines:
  "Why are you miserable?" asked Mr. Happy.
  "Because I am," replied Mr. Miserable.
  
  Isn't that the answer we give most people when we're miserable?! ;)
  
  Anyway, go read it if you have it!
• 
  Jules

  My 6 year old niece and I loved this one. Mr. Happy is ever so positive and happy, so how could we not love this story.
• 
  Shirley Revill

  My children and grandchildren have all loved the Mr men books by Roger Hargreaves.
  Always a pleasure to read these stories to the children.
  Recommended.
• 
  Julie

  I have very fond memories of these books which were first published in England in 1971. The year my sister was born & I turned six. How thrilled I am that they are still popular after all this time!
• 
  Olivia

  Cute book I read to my nine year old brother.
• 
  Rachel Clark

  I think a copy of Mr. Happy ought to be in every home, every school, every neurotherapist's and every psychotherapist's office. It is a most delightful book about someone who is happy, someone else who is miserable, and how the one who had been so miserable ends up becoming happy very easily. And even though this little fiction book doesn't bring up science at all, what it has illustrated is in fact what is true about our brains.
• 
  Fatima Ahmed

  A short children's story that teaches them how smiling and laughing are contagious :D
• 
  David Sarkies

  Turning that frown upside down
  6 December 2017 - Sydney
  
  Now I happen to be sitting in the Virgin Australia lounge waiting for my plane to depart (and also bashing on the 'm' key that is being incredibly stubborn). As such I thought it might be an opportunity to read another one of my Mr Men books, and the one that jumped out just happened to be Mr Happy (well, I had been intending on reading this one for a while, but I really started getting sick of lugging my laptop around Sydney). However while I have power (and a power cord), as well as free wifi, I doubt that I am going to get around to actually posting it until I get to Adelaide.
  
  So, I have also noted that this is the third of the series written, and it does show considering that the only other character in the book is Mr Miserable, who pretty much looks like Mr Happy except that he wears a perpetual smile. Actually, Mr Happy meets him while wandering through the forest on one of his daily walks and just happens upon a strange door in a tree. Well, since this is a Mr Men book, and not something written by H.P. Lovecraft, we can safely assume that Mr Happy is not going to be putting his life (or his sanity) in danger by investigating the door. Mind you, there is a bit of an issue with people just wandering into mysterious doors because it could be somebody's home. Then again, this whole idea of privacy is more of a Western thing, and in some parts of the world it is perfectly acceptable to simply wander into people's homes, and it is considered rude to then kick them out – then again these parts of the world do happen to be small villages where everybody knows everybody else and if you are a stranger then you are treated with suspicion.
  
  So then we come to Mr Miserable. I guess, like all of us, he just wants to be happy. Well, being stuck in a room deep in the ground is going to make somebody pretty miserable, especially if you are there by yourself. However, Mr Miserable is quite fortunate, because it seems that he doesn't suffer from clinical depression, but rather situational depression. I suggest this because all it takes to cure him of his perpetual melancholy was to take him back to the surface, which happens to be Happy Land. Sooner, rather than later, that smile becomes incredibly contagious, and suddenly Mr Miserable finds himself doing something he never thought possible – laugh.
  
  I have to admit that Mr Happy was quite fortunate as well, but then again this is a Mr Men book, which means that everything is going to work out all right. However there are people out there that just seem to have this ability to ruin everybody's day in that all the talk about are their problems. Mind you, some people have serious problems, and some people simply do not have the social skills not to create a faux pas. Some people try to solve their problems, while others just seem to be comfortable wallowing in their misery. However, some times all it takes is a friendly smile, and a warm welcome to really brighten up somebody's day. For others, there just seems to only be comfort in wallowing in their sorrows.
• 
  Danielle Palmer

  I'm left confused and bewildered by how Mr. Miserable is so unhappy living inside a magical tree house...
• 
  John Yelverton

  This is a great and fantastic children's book that teaches your child about happiness and its importance in their lives.
• 
  Phil Syphe

  Think I’m right in stating that as a boy I had all the pre-1990 Mr Men books with the possible exception of “Mr Snow”. Looking at all the covers apart from the latter jogged my memory.
  
  Sadly I remember little about the stories now, despite reading them numerous times during my boyhood, plus watching the Mr Men cartoons more than once.
  
  Reckon the last time I would’ve read these was 1983, though may have returned to them as late as 1985. Although I’ve forgotten almost everything about this title and all the others I feel that owing to the amount of times I read each publication that they all deserve to be rated five stars.
  
  I’m grateful to Roger Hargreaves for brightening up my childhood with both his Mr Men and the Timbuctoo series of books.
• 
  Nikki in Niagara

  Short and sweet. Both the book and my review. A children's classic, that can be enjoyed with just as much pleasure today as when it was written in 1971. Adorable story about being happy that will keep the attention of all who read it. I read the originals myself as a child in the early 70s and read them again to my children. The illustrations are the type that will have children trying to draw the men themselves and achieving good results. I'm wondering though what the "revised edition" means. The 1997 edition is still currently being published in North America. I have a feeling it may just have had "British-isms" removed but will have to find an early edition to compare someday.
• 
  Robin DeJarnett

  Okay, I know this is kind of cheating, but I couldn't resist when I saw these books a Borders. The Mr. Men and Little Miss books are making a comeback - and have tapped into the T-shirt market, too, I've noticed. There's tons of these little books, and I think we read nearly all of them when my kids were little. They are very cute, very quick reads for story time with little ones. I highly recommend them!
  
  These books also make great gifts for little kids, they're just their size, like 5"x5". I'm thinking that a few of my friends may be seeing these in their baby shower baskets... 8-)
• 
  C.B. Wentworth

  I read the Mr. men and LIttle Miss books when I was a kid, but a recent trip to London rekindled my love of this classic series. Aside from Little Miss Sunshine, Mr. Happy is my favorite Roger Hargreaves book. Not only is it filled with page after page of a giant yellow smile, but it drives home the central philosophy that happiness is a choice. I've lived by that idea my entire life and I love seeing it in a children's book.
• 
  Alannah Clarke

  I absolutely loved these Mr Men and Little Miss books. I remember getting them from my granny every week. There was so much from these simple characters, I remember filling my little bookshelf with all these books making sure I had got them all in right order. I wish I still had these books but somehow most of them got lost with many house moves or my mum gave the rest away. If I ever have kids, I will make sure they get the chance to experience these wonderful, colourful books.
• 
  Anne

  Reading the Doctor Who/Mr. Men mashup books made me nostalgic for the Mr. Men of my childhood. I remember poring over the back cover contemplating which Mr.s (and Little Misses) I'd read and hoping my library would get the ones I hadn't. Pretty sure Mr. Happy was one of my favorites then, and I certainly found it to stand the test of time to still be pretty delightful now. Hee! I love the guys rolling around laughing at the end; such infectious happiness makes me smile every time.
• 
  Siobhan

  Ah, Mr Men and Little Miss, how wonderful you are!
  
  These books made up so much of my childhood. No matter what I would go ahead and pick one up. I worked my way through them all a couple of times. Each one has a wonderful story for the child to engage with, each character being fun to read.
  
  Everyone has a bias for their favourite character, yet every book is delightful.
• 
  Boy Blue

  One has to question why considering his name, Mr Miserable, would be anything but. After he has a good old time laughing with Mr Happy, one also has to wonder if he then returns through the tiny red door, down the spiralling staircase, home; and what effect this has on his newfound happiness.
  
  Kids seem to get it though.
• 
  Ale ☆

  BEST BOOK EVER