Children are loved by people of all races, genders, and abilities. By those with piercings or tattoos, of all body types, and ages, by families from around the world. Some children are conceived and born to people with ease, other children are welcomed when the intervention of “a perfect mix of science, wisdom and love “is necessary

Author Julie Wilkins has created a heartfelt picture book “We’re Happy You’re Here.” It highlights that sometimes “special people” are needed for small humans to be welcomed to the world. Brady Sato illustrations are luminous, depicting adults and children in a realistic way that is so accessible to small children.

The book is a love letter to a child. The opening line “Dear small human,” begins a journey in gentle phasing. The pictures depict how “Many special people did many special things…” to welcome a child to families.

“We wished

We hoped

We dreamed…for our big moment in your story.”

In the back of the book, the author has included ways adults can engage the child in this topic by asking questions like, “Who are your special people” and “What makes you special?” Wilkins was inspired to write We’re Happy You’re Here, in celebration of the birth of a friend’s baby, one that needed “special people” to help them along the way.

Wilkins is a storyteller and owner of Gather Bookshop, an independent bookstore where her passion for inclusive and diverse literature comes alive on the shelves. We’re Happy You’re Here is her first book.

Brady Sato is a Japanese Canadian illustrator who specializes in digital illustration. They are the creator of the popular webcomic All That You Are and their first picture book, Kunoichi Bunny, was named a 2022 New York Public Library’s Best Book for Kids.

Wilkins appears at We’re Happy You’re Here: Picture Book Reading at the Whistler Public Library on Oct. 18 at 10:30 a.m. To register for free tickets, head to our website.  

Review is by Libby McKeever. McKeever is a retired youth librarian, an avid reader and writer of both fiction and creative non-fiction. She  experienced the need for “a perfect mix of science, wisdom and love,” and appreciates Wilkins’ story that acknowledges these families and the little humans in their lives.