How Do You Do?

by Larissa Theule, Gianna Marino (Illustrator)

Overview

Water Buffalo and Crane's field is dry, empty, and hot—so hot that they can barely think of anything else. Every day is the same . . .

Until one day, they hear something new.

"How do you do?"

When Goat dances into their lives, Water Buffalo and Crane can't help but join in. Suddenly their field doesn't seem dry, empty, and hot at all. Even after Goat dances away, their world is no longer so small.

This beautiful story about widening your horizons and making new friends, brought to life with stunning illustrations by Gianna Marino, shows how all it takes is one special friend to change your world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619638075
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	01/15/2019
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Gianna Marino has written and illustrated numerous articles for travel and leisure magazines. Her children's books include Zoopa: An Animal Alphabet (Chronicle Books 2005), One Too Many (Chronicle Books 2010), Meet Me at the Moon (Viking 2012), Too Tall Houses (Viking 2012), and Following Papa's Song (Viking 2014). Though she still wanders the world, Gianna now lives in Northern California and works full-time writing and illustrating. A Boy, A Ball, and a Dog is Gianna's first picture book for Roaring Brook Press.

Editorial Reviews

The story is serious about its shift from glum to optimistic, but the background colors and the animals' humorous expressions keep it light throughout—anyone who's needed this kind of intervention will relate.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The point is well taken: new acquaintances can help 'the world feel not so-hot . . . Nor so small.'” —Publishers Weekly

“Joyful. . . . Join to titles like Karen Hesse's Come On, Rain! (1999) or Nina Crews' One Hot Summer Day (1995) for a storytime heat wave.” —Booklist

“Great for sharing one-on-one or in a storytime on how to make friends.” —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

2018-09-23

One animal helps two animals out of the doldrums.

Water Buffalo and Crane are in a rut. The weather's too hot, and "when one is all the time hot, days grow long and the world small." Indeed, their hill is exaggeratedly rounded, as if they're standing on a shrunken Earth. The air's yellow; Water Buffalo's eyelids are at half-mast, and he licks sweat off his lip. Their expressions are amusing—but not to them. What can break their sweltering, oppressive gloom? " ‘How do you do?' said someone new." An unforeseen rhyme! Goat licks Water Buffalo and Crane, and "then, as sudden as summer rain, Goat started dancing." Dancing is contagious. The three dance so high their heads leave the page. "They forgot the sun. They forgot the heat. Had the earth ever smelled so sweet?" Using gouache paint on watercolor paper, Marino swirls her hot yellows into cooler blues and greens, then finally into blue-pinks. Goat departs, but Crane and Water Buffalo are changed for good: the earth feels pleasant, and there are new animals to greet. Is the "summer rain," as per the text, merely a figure of speech describing Goat's sudden dancing? Or is it as real as the illustrations show it, sprinkling down? Does it matter?

The story is serious about its shift from glum to optimistic, but the background colors and the animals' humorous expressions keep it light throughout—anyone who's needed this kind of intervention will relate. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews