There is no greater treasure than a picture book that can be as meaningful to adults as it is to children. The Short and Incredibly Happy Life of Riley by Colin Thompson and Amy Lissiat (Kane / Miller Book Publishers, ISBN: 978-1-933605-50-0) is one of those treasures.
Meet Riley the Rat
Riley was born happy. He had a mother, father, and many siblings. They loved each other, and each rat was perfect and beautiful. There was plenty of food, and Riley was warm and cozy in his shelter. What more could he want?
Riley loved the simple things in life. He loved to eat fruit and would occasionally munch down a slug. When he had an itch on his back, all Riley would want was a pointed stick to scratch his back. He never wanted to be someplace other than where he was.
Riley was never bothered with the problems humans have. When he looked in a mirror all he saw was what he was. Riley fell in love with the first girl rat he met. She was the most beautiful rat he had ever seen. Together, they had many, many baby rats, and each baby rat was perfect and happy.
Sadly enough, the wonderful and simple life of a rat is short, but everyone can be certain that Riley died happy and had no regrets.
Meet the Humans
Humans grow up wanting everything. They want to life forever, be healthy, and find eternal happiness. They eat food that is unhealthy for them. They want the biggest, or smallest, best of everything. They can’t have sticks, though, because humans have the tendency to poke other humans with the pointy ends.
When humans look into a mirror, they are never happy with what they see. They want a better body, less hair (or more of it), better skin, and some other hairstyle than what they naturally have. Humans have a hard time accepting how they look.
Humans also want to be everywhere and fall in love with everyone. They want to be on the latest vacation craze, experiencing luxury and fake adventure. Oftentimes, humans don’t want to be with the person standing next to them. Instead, humans want to be with the funniest, most beautiful, cleverest, or curviest person they can dream up.
Ironically, humans live longer than rats.
Lessons to Learn
There is an almost Buddhist feel to this thought provoking children’s picture book. The Short and Incredibly Happy Life of Riley leaves the reader wondering how she can somehow simplify her life. For children, this may mean looking closer at the family and learning to enjoy, and love, the caring people in their lives. Children quickly learn that having the latest gadget doesn’t bring happiness. As for adults, there’s always hope that by looking back on past mistakes will make them realize that they ignored the simplest, and most beautiful, parts of their lives and make them change how they live their todays and tomorrows.
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