Say Hello Like This

This is a BRIGHT book, bursting with color; the title text is rendered in glittering orange. The content is a nice twist on "What does the cow say?" The physical format, with its half-flaps hiding the second part of each page, encourages participation. A fun, quick read that welcomes repetition and rewards observation. My personal favorite is "the beetle hello," which is "tiny and tappy...like this! tip tap tip tap..."
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Re-read January 2024 at storytime

Like board books and easy readers, sometimes picture books for the very youngest can be the most difficult. It's hard to get the text simple enough without making it bland, illustrations that are attractive but not too complex, and overall a story that will attract toddlers but not bore adults to tears, especially if it's one you know you will be reading over and over again.

This Lucy Cousins look-alike hits all the nails on the head and promises to be a storytime favorite!

This picture doesn't do justice to the cover, which is actually a vivid teal with sparkly text for the title. The endpapers show several pairs of animals (cows, chicks, geese, and what might be either hamsters or guinea pigs) all making animal sounds. Each page show more describes a hello "A dog hello is sticky and loud" and shows two animals grinning cheerfully at each. Turn a half page flap and it says "like this!" and adds the animal sounds, showing the two animals now excitedly greeting each other. The book features dogs, cats, frogs, chickens, beetles, and donkeys. On the final spread, it shows all the animals and tells the listeners there's one hello missing...turn the page, and we see all the animals looking out at the audience and a big sparkly hello.

Verdict: I can see kids delightedly practicing their animal sounds, jumping, peeping, making cat paws, and more in this delightful story, not to mention enjoying turning the half page flaps. A real winner for toddler storytime!

ISBN: 9780763669515; Published 2014 by Candlewick Press; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Added to the library's order list show less

In my opinion, the book "Say Hello Like This" by Mary Murphy is a really great book for young readers who are learning about sounds. One thing I really liked about this book was the use of bright colors and bold, full page illustrations. Each animal on the page is drawn with charcoal and filled in with color to make each page attractive to the reader. The animals are also drawn like cartoons which gives them a whimsical feel. Another feature I really liked about this book was that it was simple, yet gave a lot of information. A young learner would love this book because it covers a variety of animals like a cow, cat, chicken, bug, donkey and many more while teaching them what each animal says. This could be very interactive for parents show more or teachers with their kids or students as they can say the sounds along with them. A final thing I liked about this book was that it includes pages that fold over within the book. For example, one pages reads, "A chicken hello is flappy and clucky..." then the reader turns a small, half page that reveals a continuation of the illustration and more text. The text continues, "...like this! cluck cluck cluck." The big idea of the story is to teach children animal sounds in a fun and interactive way. show less

I really liked this book for various reasons. “Say Hello Like This” is a bright and bold book that all students are attracted to. The cover page is bright blue, gold and yellow with two adorable baby chicks. The illustrations were phenomenal. The content of the story is short and sweet. Each page shows a different animal and how they say hello. For example, “A beetle hello is tiny and tappy.” The reader then opens up a half flap and it says “Like this! Tap, tip, tap, tip.” Because there are flaps (almost like a game board,) the story is very engaging for students. This book would best be suited for preschoolers. The message of the book is to never judge. Not everyone can be like you and if they were, what a boring world we show more would live in! The last page of the story ends with all of the animals saying “HELLO!” It was a great, sweet, charming and powerful book. show less

Say Hello Like This uses wonderful illustrations and half pages to demonstrate how different animals communicate with one another. At the end if even has the reader say out loud how humans say hello. This books is great to read aloud to children 0-4 yrs old.

How do animals say hello? The reader is invited to cheep, moo, cluck, and meow hello to a collection of fun animals.

Fabulous animal choice, a nice back and forth with the children and an ending sure to bring everyone together for one uproarious hello!

Good for toddlers or preschool.