Smile

How Charlie Chaplin
Taught the World
to Laugh (and Cry) 

Candlewick Press
(pub. 3.26.2019) 
48 pages

A True Tale with
A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Gary Golio
 and illustrator: Ed Young 
 
C haracter: Charlie Chaplin

O verview from the jacket flap: 
     "Once there was a boy named Charlie who roamed the streets of London, hungry for life (and maybe a bit of bread). He lived in one small room with his actress mum and his older brother, Sydney. They didn't have much to smile about, but Charlie was born to perform - whether dancing for pennies in front of the pub, reciting  a funny poem for his class, or acting in theater troupes around town. 
       When Charlie told his mum about a wobbly old man in baggy clothes with turned-out feet and a crooked cane, his mother found it sad, but young Charlie came to see that sometimes, Funny and Sad went hand in hand."
    

T antalizing taste:  

"Now, while Mum was sick
And Sydney in the Navy
Charlie took what jobs he could find.
As errand boy for a doctor.
Teaching dance to children.
Even making toy boats that he could sell for a penny.

Still, some days
He'd shed a tear or two
Just waiting for the sun to come
Brightly shining through.

      But then....

The chance of a lifetime -
A plum part in a play!"

And something more: The Afterword of SMILE explains that without "Charlie Chaplin, there probably wouldn't be movies the way we know them today. He found a way to make us laugh and cry in the same film, to make us care about the characters and their adventures. Actor, writer, director, composer, songwriter, editor, producer, and distributor - he was the first to do it all, and he did it masterfully... In Charlie's Little Tramp character, what seemed like weakness often turned out to be strength. What was a problem became a solution."