"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy," Vietnamese teacher Thich Nhat Hanh has observed. Many statues of the Buddha show him with a half smile, a traditional sign of the blend of joy and peace conjoined. What better gift is there for the holiday season than a book of smiles!
For this cheery little volume, Cooper Edens and Richard Kehl have collected images of smiling faces from many cultures and mediums including fine art, photography, toys, pop culture, and advertising. There are bathing beauties frolicing in the waves and the beaming face of the Quaker Oats man. Illustrations from familiar children's books are set alongside images of stars like Marilyn Monroe, Stan Laurel, and Albert Einstein. The Mona Lisa's smile is included; so is Tuffy the Truck's.
You will feel a lightness of being as you peruse these images. They are a passport into the land of playfulness and glad tidings. Enjoy.
