Jutta Bauer (1955–2025)

A dog asks the wise old ram to explain what happiness is, and the wise one answers by telling him the story of Selma: every morning at the break of dawn, she eats a little bit of grass; she gives speech lessons to her children till noon; she does a little bit of exercise during the afternoon; then she eats a bit more grass; in the evening, she has a chat with Mrs. Meier; at night she sleeps a deep peaceful sleep. A wonderful little story about the simple pleasures that give life all it's show more meaning. The simple pen & ink illustrations with beautiful colouring are just plain fun. An instant favourite. show less

I'll have to think about this one awhile. Of course I know guardian angels aren't real, but I don't believe Bauer needs me to in order to appreciate her theme. I mean, the theme could be as simple as 'be grateful for all the good luck and bits of joy in your life.' But obviously it's richer than that, too. And the art looks like unfinished sketches, but obviously I'm not appreciating their value, either. Hmm....

openlibrary.org
(which also has other works by her, original and translation)

I'm not thrilled with the dress that the queen wears. Nor do I necessarily agree with the interpretations of the characteristics/ personalities of the colors red, blue, and yellow. Nor do I understand why all the other colors, like green and purple etc., were not included.

Still, it's a neat concept, an important metaphor, and worth considering sharing with the right child.

Selma is a story about a wolf/dog that is sad or depressed. He goes to a wise ram and the ram tells him the story of Selma. Selma is a sheep and every day she wakes up eats some grass, plays with her children, talks to Mrs. Miller, and falls asleep. Then someone asked Selma if she had more time what would she do? Surprisingly Selma responds with the same activities she has always done. Then, Selma was asked what would you do if you won a million dollars? Selma responded with her same show more routine, with nothing changed. This book is simplistic but poses a philosophical question: What is happiness? As we can infer, the author wants the reader to really think about what true happiness is. We can see that Selma doesn't need more time to do the things she loves, because she is already doing them. Selma also doesn't need money or material things to make her happy because she is content and has everything she needs. Therefore, the author wants us, the reader, to understand that true happiness are the simplistic things in life. Each moment should be cherished, no time should be wasted doing things that don't make us happy. I enjoyed this a lot. show less