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Hello Hello: Five-Song CD Included    by Dan Zanes & Donald Saaf Amazon.com order for
Hello Hello
by Dan Zanes
Order:  USA  Can
Little, Brown & Co., 2004 (2004)
Hardcover
* * *   Reviewed by Hilary Williamson

Dan Zanes is the former lead singer of the rock-and-roll band, the del fuegos. In his introduction to Hello Hello, he talks about how the song 'fell out of the sky and landed in my lap.' Zanes' brother-in-law, Donald Saaf, painted the lively (and surprising) pictures that go with it - each page has a flap that opens up to a new happening, and more characters (kids and animals), in a whimsical Brooklyn scene.

The picture book begins, 'Every day brings more than the day before', and then leads us through a gloriously happy day, filled with friends - 'and a friend comes wandering through / and says hello hello hello'. There's fun in the park, and (I counted them) seventeen ways to say hello in different languages of the world, from 'caio!' and 'salaam!' to 'konnichiwa!', 'mbote!' and even the canine 'arf!'

At the back of the book are the words and music to the five songs on the accompanying CD - 'Hello Hello', 'Get on Board Little Children', 'Mairi's Wedding', 'Alabama Bound', and 'Crawdad Song'. These are a delight, songs that both kids and adults will enjoy playing again and again and again, just as they will have fun turning the pages and lifting the flaps of this engaging picture book.

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