The Happiness Dress

When Carolyne receives a colourful dress covered in bright red, pink and yellow flowers from her aunt in the Caribbean, she loves it! Her Mum, Grandma and her other aunt think it just won’t do. The dress is much too bright for the cosmopolitan, conservative country in which they now live. They try to convince Carolyne that she needs to fit in, not stand out. But when Carolyne’s father takes her on a walk she discovers her beautiful dress with its vibrant colours can bring happiness to a lot of people. The Happiness Dress celebrates that difference is a trait that many can share as well as a truth we sometimes forget, the importance of fathers in girls’ lives. The Happiness Dress won the Commonwealth Foundation Special Prize for a children’s story in 2011.