Hello! Good-Bye!

Aliki's drawings have a sweet, childlike quality, and here her text mirrors the inventive simplicity of her art. The entire book consists of permutations of ""hello"" and ""good-bye"": she demonstrates how the two words are used in other cultures and languages, in a variety of settings and in contexts that range from friendly to hostile to sad (for example, two forlorn children stand before an empty rocking chair as the caption reads, ""A good-bye that lasts forever hurts the most""). Dialogue balloons animate panel art and shade the meaning of the text; e.g., accompanying the statement ""A hello can be embarrassing"" is a picture of a red-faced boy clutching a slingshot before a broken window as a homeowner confronts him: ""Hello, young man."" The lively design, featuring as many as nine panels on a page, offsets the sometimes static quality of the writing. All told, kids will be entertained by Aliki's ingenuity. Ages 4-up. (Sept.)