When I finished reading An Awesome Book of Thanks! to my five-year-old he looked at me and said “Thanks for reading the book Mum. Thanks for giving me a hug and thanks for gravity”. That warmed my heart and this special book is guaranteed to warm yours (but I can’t take the credit for gravity, so thanks Earth).

A lot has been written about author Dallas Clayton and his self-published picture book, An Awesome Book. The book is about dreaming big but when Clayton pitched his story, publishers didn’t get it. So applying what he knew (and dreaming big) Clayton made an unorthodox decision – to give away the book for free online. It was awesomely successful – people wanted a hard copy and Clayton could barely keep up with demand. He went on to establish the Awesome World Foundation which gives away one book to a school, hospital, library or organisation in need, for every one that is sold (so far it’s over 50,000).

Clayton’s second book, An Awesome Book of Thanks!, is as every bit as inspired, enchanting and gently humorous as the first. The message is perfectly simple – be thankful. In fact, saying thanks is the beginning, middle and end of this ‘story’. There are thank yous for the ‘big’ stuff – “…thank you ocean deep and desert dry and mountain steep…” and for the ‘small’ stuff – “Magic rocks and lucky breaks, having all the time it takes, and boxes for pretend, and balls to kick and kites to fly, and places to go when you want to cry…”

Mention must also be made of the fantastic illustrations from the fuzzy little guys that are the main characters through to pages jam-packed with colour, fine detail and feeling (check out the bloody knee on the skateboarding dude below).

You can read An Awesome Book of Thanks! free online but truly, I think this book is simply so good that you’ll want your own. It costs US$16.95 from the Awesome World Store.