Some days for no reason at all the world just seems brighter. The sun feels like it’s shining. The snow feels like it’s melting and after a long winter you feel a newfound freedom to explore the world.
This is how spring makes me feel. It’s that light, happy feeling you feel when life is good for no reason other than the fact that life is good.
In honor of spring, here are three books for all ages that will help you experience that springtime feeling even if you’re still living in the midst of winter.
Now by Antoinette Portis
This picture book for children (and adults) emphasizes finding joy in what we have right now. A young girl shows us how to live in the moment by walking us through her favourite things and ultimately prompting us to remember that this moment can be our favourite because it’s the one were living right now.
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
My top choice for happy books always has to be Anne of Green Gables. This book for children and young adults (and everyone else in the world) is set in the 1800’s in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. This classic tells the story of the little orphan girl with red hair who is adopted by the Cuthbert and brought to live at Green Gables.
Despite having a previously difficult life, Anne finds beauty in everything and everyone around her. She is not afraid to feel the height of all emotions—good and bad—and although she has a fervent wish of who she could be she lives each moment one hundred percent her authentic self.
Anne makes me want to be curious about the world and find wonder in the everyday things that I take for granted.
In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan
This book for young adults may be a slightly different choice than the previous two. However, this book is so funny and clever that it can’t help but bring you joy. In a world where children from our world and the magical world are brought to a school to be trained to protect the border between worlds, Elliott is plucked out of his normal life and placed in a life of adventure.
Taking every stereotype we have come to accept about peace, diplomacy, gender roles and society as a whole—this story flips every expectation you have on its head in a comical and thought-provoking way. I literally could not read this book without laughing out loud.