cover image Hi!

Hi!

Ethan Long. Abrams Appleseed, $7.95 (20p) ISBN 978-1-4197-1365-1

More than a dozen animals salute each other with rhyming exclamations in a typically quirky offering from Long. In facing single-page vignettes, the animals smile and wave at each other: %E2%80%9CChirp!%E2%80%9D says a red bird, perched on its birdhouse. %E2%80%9CSlurp!%E2%80%9D responds a fuzzy anteater, its snout deep in an anthill. Elsewhere, a polar bear%E2%80%99s %E2%80%9CGrowl!%E2%80%9D is met by a wolf%E2%80%99s %E2%80%9CHowl,%E2%80%9D and a crow%E2%80%99s %E2%80%9CCaw!%E2%80%9D by a bucking, bucktoothed donkey%E2%80%99s %E2%80%9CHee-haw!%E2%80%9D Zoological accuracy isn%E2%80%99t exactly the point (Do yaks really say %E2%80%9Cyak%E2%80%9D?), but this friendly chain of greetings and Long%E2%80%99s bright, spongy-edged digital illustrations create an infectious sense of good cheer. Up to age 2. (May)