This is a story full of literary figures and optimism and happiness in each line. Daniela shines with her will to live, and whichever crestfallen beings come her way, her huge smile cause a wonderful chain reaction among the animals in this fable. The hippopotamus, the chimpanzee, the elephant, the ostrich and the jackal all change their shortcomings, their foul moods, their monotonous life, their insensitivity or their violent character for a new attitude, with self-esteem, affection, bravery, tenderness and joy.

Carmen Gil presents a circular story with contrasts and an important symbolism. We can also interpret it as a puzzle of stories linked by the same guiding principle: Daniela’s smile, which infects each character and finally comes back to the main character after being a hummingbird in the spring, a butterfly of bright colours, a ray of light, rain in May and the caress of the breeze.

From the point of view of aesthetics, the light and colour of Rebeca Luciani’s construction of Daniela’s world are an important asset. Other elements in her work are the detail in illustration, the originality in the collage-like overlapping of elements in each scene, and the complicity with the readers introducing children’s scribble. All this expresses this illustrator’s artistic evolution.