Once there was a country where the people were always happy. They would smile and laugh when the sun shone down, when it poured with rain and even when the snow fell and their teeth were chattering. Nothing ever made them sad or cross. But this is the story of a small boy who breaks the law. He cries. He is taken straight to the king who, it is said, is the happiest person in the land. Can the boy convince the king that it's all right to be sad sometimes?

 

There are 32 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2007 by Random House Children's Publishers UK .

Chris Wormell lives in North London with his wife and children. He was the winner of the Ragazza Prize at Bologna in 1991. His previous books for Jonathan Cape are Where I Live and What I Eat, Blue Rabbit and Friends and Blue Rabbit and Friends and Animal Train and Off to the Fair (to be published in 2001).