Some Helpful Tips for a Better World and a Happier Life    by Rebecca Doughty Order:  USA  Can Schwartz & Wade, 2008 (2008) Hardcover    Reviewed by Kerrily Sapet 'Talk to somebody new. Eat your vegetables. Dance.' These sage tips and more are the subject of Rebecca Doughty's book, Some Helpful Tips for a Better World and a Happier Life. Geared toward children, the book offers important thoughts on what kids can do to help themselves and the world they live in at the same time. Adults too will smile at Doughty's advice. The text is simple, a sentence or two on each page. Colorful cartoon-like pictures illustrate each tip. The page reading Lend Mother Nature a hand shows children attending a Green Fair, looking at local produce, pulling a wagon of recycling to a drop off spot, and learning about windmills and wind power. Other pages show children experimenting with their hair styles and baking cupcakes. Written and illustrated by Rebecca Doughty, the book has a fun and playful feel. It follows the format of many simple advice books for adults. Often these suggestions for adults have to do with having fun and taking time out of busy schedules. For many kids though, following Doughty's advice is just doing what kids do naturally. Most already do make wishes, stomp in mud puddles, and make funny faces in mirrors. While some of Doughty's tips have an original feel to them and are well illustrated - such as Invent occasions for celebrations - much of it will not be new to readers, as Doughty advises them to Stop and smell the flowers. 2nd Review by Hilary Williamson (Rating:2): Every page of Rebecca Doughty's Some Helpful Tips for a Better World and a Happier Life made be smile. Even though most of the tips are tried-and-truisms, the order in which they're presented and the whimsy in the illustrations make this small picture book special. The young narrator is accompanied throughout by a dog and cat - I especially liked the picture of the feline catnapping on the child's head to the refrain of 'Experiment with your hairdo.' And who can argue with exhorting youngsters to 'Try new things', 'Be a hero', 'Lend mother nature a hand' and 'Read' (this time the cat is sleeping atop a huge book pile!) The final admonition - 'Be you' - could have been taken from Shakespeare's 'To thine own self be true', and is arguably the most important. All of us could benefit by following Some Helpful Tips for a Better World and a Happier Life. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Kids books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews