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I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Be Happy, Be You before Christmas and I've enjoyed reading it, sharing it with my twin girls and trying out some of the suggested tasks. Instantly when one of my 12 year old's picked the book up, she commented on how nice the cover was. Apparently it is a good font, and then upon flicking through the book, she liked the layout as it wasn't just words. So well done Becky and Penny, you've done good for pick-up appeal, but then of course you would, you're both parents of teens.
Be Happy, be You is the newest book from Penny Alexander and Becky Goddard-Hill, who also penned the inspirational Create Your Own Happy, which was designed with younger children in mind. This latest book is a positive and insightful guide for teenagers, it gives them the tools they need to build their confidence, eliminate negative feelings and boost their happiness in all areas of their life. Being a teen can bring some real challenges with it, and even more so nowadays with every part of life being on display via social media.
Even before receiving the book, I felt confident it would be a great resource as I've known both Penny and Becky for a number of years now, and between them they have a wealth of experience. Penny as a teacher and writer, and Becky as a social worker and life coach; as well as both being mothers of course.
The book starts by telling the reader that "choosing to be happy is more important than anything else you do in your life", and apparently 72% of teens agree with this statement. How amazing would it be if our teens lived their lives with this in mind? I know for sure my teens (and pre-teens) allow outside influences and pressures to steal their joy at times and to dictate what happy looks like.
Thankfully my girls are already realising that the Nike Air Force 1 trainers they covet, only make them happy for a very short time, whereas being part of the choir or painting a picture are things that make their hearts sing, and that happiness stays much longer.
There is a lot of scientific principles in the book to ground it and give it authority, but it is cool that it tends to be referred to as "the science bit" and thus doesn't come across as boring or too old for the teens the book is aimed at.
At the beginning Penny and Becky describe the book as a pick 'n' mix. Take what you like from the book and leave the others. They do encourage you to give everything a go to see how you feel about it, and then if your teen finds activities that they love, to repeat those and use their journal to do the activities and help to feel more positive.
There are 40 topics covered in the book, with headings such as body confidence, positive per pressure, spirituality and happy studying. Each topic around four pages long, and you can see from the examples shown here, none of them are heavy reading. This is the kind of book your teen can pick up, enjoy for 20 minutes and put down again.
In all, I'm very happy to have been sent this book and I am glad my girls are able to read it and take what they need from it.
Be Happy, Be You was released on 9th January 2020 and is available for sale from (#ad) Amazon for £7.19 currently.
This post is the last one in the Be Happy, Be You book tour, which has already stopped at Boo Roo and Tigger Too, A Mummy Too, Who’s the Mummy , Emma and 3, The Diary of a Frugal Family, Little LilyPad, Growing Family, Steph’s two girls, Actually Mummy and finally ending here.
Disclosure: I received this book free of charge for the purpose of writing this post. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.
