If anyone knows what makes a great children's book，it must be Sussex author and illustrator（插图画家）Jane Hissey. Her "Old Bear" books have achieved classic status in a variety of formats.

I met Jane at her home in the East Sussex countryside and asked her what she thought the secret of a classic children's book was. "That's a difficult one, I suppose it has got to be related to children's stage of development-for young children, pictures on a page that are familiar; for older children, an experience. The book should be familiar, but hold some surprises too to keep the interest. It must inspire and delight them, but there are the things that happen every day."

After the birth of her first child, she gave up teaching and worked on her own artwork, drawing pictures of teddy bears. An editor from a publishing company saw her work and invited Jane to do a children's book. Over the years, from the first "Old Bear" book in 1986, her children have made a huge contribution-especially in terms of plots. She said, "I used to give my children the toys to play with-and they had tea parties and so on. One of my bear characters,' Little Bear', is the same age as Ralph, my youngest, who's seven now. All the children have joined in my work and, in years to come, they will realize how much."

"I hope I'll know when people are getting tired of the characters. If ever they did, I think I'd go on drawing them for fun," Jane continued. "My own children have been very useful to me in my work, but as they are older now, I' ll just have to hope that other people's children can inspire me."

   I strongly believe that if a child is raised with approval，he will learn to love himself and will be successful in his own way. Several weeks ago，I was doing homework with my son in the third grade and he kept standing up from his chair to go over the math lines. I kept asking him to sit down，telling him that he would concentrate better. He sat but seconds later，as if he didn't even notice he was doing it，he got up again. I was getting discouraged，but then it hit me. I started noticing his answers were much quicker and more precise when he stood up. Could he be more focused while standing up？

This made me start questioning myself and what I had been raised to believe. I was raised to believe that being a quiet，calm child was a sure way to success. This child would have the discipline（自制力）to study hard，get good grades and become someone important in life.

Now those same people perhaps come to realize that their kids are born with their own sets of DNA and personality, and all you can do is loving and accepting them. As parents, throughout their growing years and beyond that, we need to be our kids' best cheerleaders, guiding them and helping them find their way.

I have stopped asking my son to sit down and concentrate. Obviously, he is concentrating just in his own way and not mine. We need to learn to accept our kids' ways of doing things. Some way may have worked for us but it doesn't mean we need to carry it through generations. There is nothing sweeter than being individual and unique. It makes us free and happy and that's just the way I want my kids to live their own life.

   I would love to be happier，as I'm sure most people would，so I think it will be interesting to find some ways to become a happier person.

1. Exercise more

Exercise has such a deep effect on our happiness and well-being that it's actually been proven to be an effective strategy（策略）for overcoming depression. 【小题1】 It can also improve your body image，even if you don't lose any weight.

2. Sleep more

We know that sleep helps our bodies to recover from the day and repair themselves，and that it helps us focus and be more productive. 【小题2】

3. Spend time with friends and family

【小题3】Several studies have found that time spent with friends and family makes a big difference to how happy we feel. Almost all the other things that we think make us happy are actually just ways of getting more families and friends.

4. Go outside

Spend time in the fresh air to improve your happiness. 【小题4】 One study found that spending 20 minutes outside in good weather not only improved our positive mood, but broadened thinking and improved working memory.

5. Help others

To make yourself feel happier, you should help others. Spending money on other people makes us happier than buying stuff for ourselves. 【小题5】 A study of volunteering showed that volunteers were affected and felt unhappy when their opportunities to help others were taken away.

A Chinese and a German made up their mind cross the sea in a balloon in 1754. The balloon in what they discovered a hole was high over the water. A hole became bigger and bigger. The hot air keeping the balloon up was escaping quick and the balloon was coming down. The two men threw all their equipments in order to make the balloon lighter. It started to rise higher again，so it was still too close to the water. At last，the men throw away most of their clothes to save himself. The crowd waiting for to welcome them was very surprising to see this when the balloon landed in front of them.