The picture book Leroy Has Something to Say by Emily Rosenthal and illustrator My Phuong Thai is a book that made me have a warm happy. Lately not a lot of books have made me feel warm happy. And that is okay. I mean, I am an adult and can handle adult subjects, but sometimes I need to tone the doom and gloom down to a mild roar. And after reading Leroy I was able to have a happy warm feeling.
The cover is super cute looking. I figured it would be too sacrine and make me feel sickly-sweet, but my brain said just read it, judge later. And I did read it, and I liked it and I was content. Things were good. There were no bad things in the world. I could forget events that had happened that really harshed my good vibes. That had taken away my warm happy. I was able to read the story and the illustrations (as you don’t just look at them, they help tell the story) and say, “I like this book and it has pretty illustrations.” It was a good choice.
I don’t want to go into the story, just trust me and read it when it comes out in the summer of 2026. (I read it via an online reader). This is because of how it made me feel. There are pieces I can tell you that shouldn’t color your feelings or reaction such as there is a ghost, there is gardening, and there is representation of neurodiversity, gender and races. And I can say the colors were soft, and the illustrations details could be busy but that is fine as it helps you focus on things and allows you to drift, look around and enjoy the moment as well.
