Embrace Contentment With the 2011 Happiness Is... Ornament

Happiness Is a Warm Puppy is one of the most iconic books Charles Schulz ever created. A compact celebration of the many different ways in which people find happiness, it includes a series of “Happiness is…” statements, each accompanied by a drawing of one or more Peanuts characters. This year’s Happiness Is… Hallmark ornament celebrates that book and the general feeling of contentment that goes along with it.

This sturdy ornament features Charlie Brown lounging cozily in a bright blue beanbag, reading the book whose title has been shortened to Happiness Is… On Charlie Brown’s head rests Snoopy, his faithful white beagle with the black spot on his back, and plucky yellow bird Woodstock perches on Snoopy’s head. All three wear wide smiles. They make a lovely little tower, and the beanbag, which is flat on the bottom, gives them a very sturdy base. The bag is two inches long and just under two inches wide, and from its bottom to the top of Woodstock’s head, the ornament stands slightly less than four inches tall.

The colors on this ornament are very vivid. I would describe the blue as cerulean, a cheerful color that is fairly light but very bright. Charlie Brown has flesh-toned arms, hands, legs and face, while his shirt is bright red with a jagged black stripe, his shorts are black and his shoes are brown. Snoopy is blazingly white except for the black spots and the red collar, and Woodstock sports a sunny shade of yellow. Meanwhile, the book in Charlie Brown’s hands has a lavender cover. The pages are white on the edges, but the left page to which the book is open is red, while the right is orange.

“Happiness is getting together with friends,” the page reads, and that seems wonderfully appropriate for this ornament. The unspoken sentiment that goes along with it here would be something along the lines of “Happiness is curling up with a good book.” Because it so effectively conveys the joy of reading, this ornament would make a wonderful shelf sitter in a book nook or on a home library shelf. I’ve decided to keep mine out year-round; after all, there is nothing inherently Christmassy about it.

If you do want to hang this one on your Christmas tree, the ornament hook is at the back of Snoopy’s head, where you barely notice it from the front because Woodstock is standing directly in front of it. There’s a slight tilt to the way this hangs because of the heaviness of the beanbag, but it’s nothing very dramatic. It’s just enough to enhance the illusion of reclining.

While this is well-crafted and appealing from a purely visual point of view, one thing that makes this battery-operated ornament so fun is the button you push to make Charlie Brown talk. Located on the side of the beanbag and colored to blend in with the rest of the material, it runs through a series of statements about what happiness is. There are enough that at least one should apply to whoever happens to be listening, especially since one of the statements is about how different things make different people happy. The list of quotes is as follows.

“Happiness is getting together with friends.”
“Happiness is an A on your spelling test.”
“Happiness is finding someone you like at the front door.”
“Happiness is walking on the grass in your bare feet.”
“Happiness is one thing to one person and another thing to another person.”

I’m not sure who recorded the voice for this, but he sounds Charlie Brownish to me, and he does a nice job with the statements, though his inflection on the third is a little wonky. It’s fun to press the button multiple times and listen to each in turn.

This is an excellent ornament for fans of Charlie Brown and his pals, and it can bring a smile no matter what the season is. If you think happiness is a warm puppy, a beloved book or devoted friends, then you will probably also find that happiness is a 2011 Hallmark ornament featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Woodstock.