Hello Hello

Starred review from January 8, 2018
Wenzel starts with two cats and a greeting: “Hello Hello.” They eye each other across a white backdrop. A page turn reveals a black bear, panda, zebra, and striped fish: “Black and White.” The next page provides a blast of color: more tropical fish, a brilliant parrot, a fuchsia lobster—and completes the rhyme (“Hello Color Hello Bright”). More creatures and greetings bring the story into focus—it’s a celebration of the myriad forms of animal life this planet hosts. In richly textured mixed-media compositions, Caldecott Honor recipient Wenzel (They All Saw a Cat) balances realism and engaging caricature. The animals’ coats and features are rendered with careful attention, and each animal face sports cartoonish, wide-open eyes, the better to give each other impish looks. In an author’s note, Wenzel urges readers to know the creatures they share the Earth with, especially those that are threatened or endangered. (Official names are supplied in two keyed drawings at the back.) It’s a joyful way to deliver a message about the fragility of life on Earth and what would be lost if more of it disappeared. Ages 3–5. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

Starred review from February 1, 2018
Caldecott honoree (They All Saw a Cat, 2016) Wenzel's graphic love letter to all us earthlings is a hallelujah chorus to life in all its glorious shapes and forms. Each page is a visual testament to the Sesame Street axiom "different yet the same." The white cat leads off to the black, which then takes readers to the black bear, the black-and-white panda, the stripey zebra, and its finny eponymous cousin, the zebra fish. This natural progression opens readers' minds to the fact that we have more in common with one another than not--but for one alarming distinction. Between 200 and 2,000 species are going extinct each year. Wenzel immortalizes his favorite examples of our planet's exceptional inhabitants, including us, using a variety of artistic media and tools (cut paper, colored pencil, oils, pastels, markers, etc.) to amazing effect. Dynamic images cavorting, reclining, flying, or dancing across and around stark white pages snag both emotions and imaginations. The spare, rhyming text united by the bridging greeting of "Hello" places all creatures on the same interconnected playing field. In the backmatter, the author identifies all his stars on two double-page spreads in order of appearance and notes their status when applicable: vulnerable to critically endangered. Every one of Wenzel's beasties, from the "common" house cat to the mouth-dropping whale shark, exhibits an exuberant spark of life that will delight readers everywhere--and hopefully encourage in them an awareness of their plights. (Picture book. 3-10)

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March 1, 2018

PreS-K-Beginning with some modest black-and-white critters and the titular greeting, Wenzel introduces a dazzling variety of animals grouped in unexpected ways by pattern ("Hello Stripes Hello Spots"), anatomical features ("Hello Tongue, Ears, Hands, and Nose"), sounds (Hello Roars, Peeps, Chirps, and Chants") and many other criteria, each description a part of a rhyming poem spread out across the book. Set against ample white backgrounds, Wenzel's mixed media illustrations pop with astounding textures and colors, somewhat reminiscent of Steve Jenkins's work, but considerably more caricature in style with googly eyes and exaggerated shapes. The dizzying parade culminates in a spread of all of the animals together, "A world to see A world to know Where to begin? Hello Hello." A note from the author explains that these animals are some of the author's favorites but are tragically endangered; Wenzel urges readers to discover more about them to better the conservation efforts. An illustrated list of animals is helpfully included, listing the names of all pictured animals and their threatened status. VERDICT Deceptively simple but gorgeously realized, with a powerful statement about celebrating and protecting the Earth's fauna in all its diverse (yet interconnected) splendor.-Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 1, 2018
Preschool-G *Starred Review* Bursting with energy and stuffed to the brim with animals from across the globe, this latest from Caldecott Honor Book creator Wenzel (They All Saw a Cat, 2016) is more than an average bestiary. In simple, rhyming text that's suited both to emerging readers and storytime read-alouds, Wenzel displays a colorful (and, for that matter, not colorful, too) array of animals big and small, ordinary and strange, from the land and from the sea. The vibrantly illustrated animals, all sporting Wenzel's trademark adorably bugged eyes, pop against a white background as they greet one another: Hello Hello / Black and White / Hello Color / Hello Bright. There are certainly some recognizable critters here (lions, tigers, and bears all claim page space, as do two young, diverse humans themselves), but plenty of others are more unusual (narwhals, tamarins, echidnas). Others still may be entirely new for young readers (mud puppies, an aardwolf, kiwis). For the curious, a final four-page spread identifies each creature by their silhouette. In an author's note, Wenzel gently touches on conservation, explaining that each animal is a vital part of an ecosystem, and that many shown here are threatened or endangered. The first step to saving these animals, he says, is learning about them, and this vivacious, utterly appealing early STEM offering will surely inspire young readers to do just that.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)