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 Review by
Louella Moreland
Matthew Cordell's new picture book, "Hello! Hello!" will have both
children and adults rethinking the way they communicate. Cordell uses his
quirky illustrations and color to deliver a message that is hugely needed in
our electronic-loving world.
As he uses a very limited text through the entire picture book -- mainly
"hello" -- we readers are greeted by a ringing cellphone on the beginning
fly-page. What will we hear? What will the message be? From there to the
last fly-page, where we see the cellphone again, with "good-bye," we need
nothing but our eyes and hearts to understand the meaning of this truly
inspired story.
We meet a little red-haired, barefoot girl dressed in a bluish-green
shift dress who desperately tries to communicate with her busy family.
Saying hello to each one in turn, she is basically ignored. Her mother is
busy typing on her laptop, her father is busy on his cellphone, and her
brother is busy playing a game on his electronic pad. All the family is
drawn in a washed-out gray.
When an orange leaf blows in through the door, the little girl, saying
hello, follows it outside, where she meets a bug, a flower and a whole
colorful world. Spying a horse across a blue stream, it in turn says hello
to her. She climbs on the horse, racing through a beautiful multicolored
meadow, where they meet up with a deer, a buffalo and other animals,
greeting each new friend who joins them on their wild romp.
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Unfortunately, their run comes to a screeching halt when the
girl's cellphone rings. Calling her are a worried mother and father.
She runs home immediately. They meet her at the door, hands on hips,
still as dull gray as ever.
But then the little girl hands her mother the leaf, her father a
flower and her brother a bug. As each family member switches from
their electronic device to a thing of nature, they, too, change into
colorful beings, saying hello to the broader world around them.
Color and spacing are used as much as the drawings themselves to
convey the story's message. Large expanses of white space isolate
the family members as they "tune out" the world around them. Later,
as they "reconnect," the color and graphics begin to enlarge and
flood the page with movement and light.
Is Cordell writing his story for children? Maybe. Somehow I
believe the adults who read "Hello! Hello!" to their young ones will
be the ones who benefit the most. This little gem of a book is the
type of story that combines every element of a picture book needed
to make it memorable.
For this and other fun-filled picture books, visit us at the
Lincoln Public Library, 725 Pekin St. We would love to share a few
with you.
[Text from file received from Louella Moreland,
Lincoln Public Library District]
Ms. Lou's blog:
lincolnpubliclibraryupdates.blogspot.com |
