Pharrell Williams
Is on track to make 2016 his Happiest Year Ever !
By Rhonda Price
If there ’ s anyone determined to have a “ Happy ” New Year , it ’ s Pharrell Williams . The wildly popular singer , songwriter , record producer and coach on NBC ’ s The Voice is bringing his hit song “ Happy ” to life in a newly released children ’ s picture book ( Putnam Books for Young Readers , $ 19.99 ), celebrating what it means to be happy in cultures throughout the world . Aside from the book ’ s upbeat messages , Happy is especially meaningful because of Pharrell ’ s literacy campaign with Penguin Young Readers and the non-profit organization FirstBook , as they ’ ve teamed up to donate 50,000 copies to children in low-income families .
“ Every child deserves to experience the joy of reading ,” said Pharrell when we checked in with him during his recent book-signing tour . “ I hope this book inspires children and teaches them the importance of being happy and true to themselves .”
Social media is abuzz with the hash tag # ReadHappy , created specifically for people to share why reading makes them happy . For every post using the hash tag , his book will be donated to a child in need . Even though Pharrell supports numerous charitable projects focused on educating youth in at-risk communities with his not-for-profit foundation From One Hand to AnOTHER , encouraging children to read ranks high on his list .
“ Reading is very important because it ’ s one of the main tools we use to gain information ,” he said . “ To be able to operate in the real world , you have to be able to obtain information . That ’ s why I ’ m committed to promoting child literacy and believe my book is a perfect vehicle to help accomplish this goal ,”
Reading is also close to Pharrell ’ s heart because he attributes the internationally best-selling book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho with dramatically changing his life . The book ’ s main premise is that life is meant to be a journey for finding one ’ s true