Hello, Day! (review)

As the sun rises, various animals greet the day with their customary sounds ("The Cow said, 'Moo'"); as day ends and the moon appears, a lone owl calls "'Whooooo.' What she meant was . . . 'Good night!'" Although the inclusion of a mouse ("Eeeek") and a rabbit ("Pr-pr-pr") add a bit of novelty, this catalog of animal sounds treads pretty familiar ground. However, Lobel's attractive mixed-media artwork adds a breath of fresh air to an elemental text. Layering of various media provides rich texture and depth to the full-page illustrations of animals and landscape, and the vibrant colors are warm and cheery; the simple words appear in large bold print on the plain white facing pages. Good both for groups and for one-on-one lap reading, this is a sunny selection that will encourage little ones to join right in with the sounds they love to imitate.