The Little Book of Joy

“If you just focus on the thing that is making you sad, then the sadness is all you see. But if you look around, you will see that joy is everywhere… When we sat still and breathed in the quiet, we noticed something beautiful… Joy is the warm tingly feeling of the sun tickling your toes in the morning. And it’s the soft, snuggly feeling of being all wrapped up, cozy in your bed at night.”

Joy can grow even in the damp and dark if you would let it take root within you. 

In this children’s book, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama lead us through the baby steps they both took to find joy amidst their childhood suffering and isolation. This joy that sings amidst the mess and muck of things is illustrated by Rafael López with playfully soft shapes filled in by more weathered and watercolour textures, with a special emphasis on the cosmic colour that can be found in each and every landscape. The picture it paints is universal, showing we are never alone in our loneliness, and that Christians and Buddhists, Africans and Tibetans, young and old, can be united across continents and traditions.

Target Age: From 3 years onwards. 

Born worlds apart and to vastly different circumstances and religions, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness the Dalai Lama find common ground in The Little Book of Joy. The former was raised into poverty in Apartheid-era South Africa and the latter into a world of expectation, separated from his family and friends at a young age in preparation for his role as Dalai Lama. Writing together, in sentences woven amongst expressive imagery, they describe childhoods that shared feelings of sadness and loneliness – of wishing for friends who were absent or out of reach and wondering if they would always feel lonely and sad.

Retelling their respective stories, they reveal the ways in which they mutually found joy in nature, colours, play, and (perhaps most of all) in sharing that joy with others. To embody their lives and lessons is for us to follow their example, finding creative ways to rejoice in what is around you – come what may – and to spread that joy far and wide. The Little Book of Joy illustrates a simple truth: the more joy you share, the more you find you have.

For those adults who want to embody these teachings, the Dalai Lama’s website offers information about his work and recordings of his talks.