Hello World!, bridges fun and education in a hunt and find book

There is a period in the lives of most young when Ethan Long is their favorite author. It’s that period after board books when they’re making the switch to illustrated books. Our youngest first discovered Long with Lion & Tiger & Bear: Tag You’re It! He loved its energy and art that it’s a book we’ve saved for the permanent library. Hello World! is the first in the Happy County book series that’s aimed at ages 3-6.

From the cover parents will recognizes a Richard Scarry vibe to the book. That vibe represents busy pages that are jammed with characters, action, situations and new vocabulary. It’s like Where’s Waldo, but with hundreds of different things that kids can look at. You know Scarry’s books and their look. What Ethan Long has done with his Happy County book series is an updated and unique version that also provides humor and a narrative device.

That’s big talk for a children’s book. The takeaway that parents will notice is that kids will absolutely love Hello World!, as well as, the books that will follow it in the Happy County series. They have a huge presence. It’s 12” tall and 10” and there isn’t an inch of wasted space on any of the pages.

Readers will quickly meet the residents of Happy County. These are the anthropomorphic characters that do any of the hobbies or jobs in Hello World! Along the way we see the farmland on the outskirts of town where possums are having a picnic, frogs are fishing, vehicles are moving, animals are on the loose and more. We see a pair of bird watchers looking for one of we different varieties who are clearly marked and identified in their book. It’s their bird watching book that starts to let older readers in on the fact that something new is afoot.

Kids are learning something in addition to having fun. Sure there are the hundreds of things that kids can find, but there are also lots of educational elements that STEM parents will love. It’s a win/win equation where kids will want to experience the books and parents will be secretly cheering for its content.

The narrative elements will also engage young readers. We see Hannah the Handywoman as she does a project in a client’s house, laugh along to Mr. Rhinehorn as he tries to nap and more vignettes that establish their personalities. Hello World! alternates the silly to the educational on roughly every two pages. The result is a well blended book that kids will get lost in for a number of reasons.

Pre-K readers through mid-elementary will find something to love about this book and this series. Hello World! starts in the morning and ends at night when everyone is at the county fair. Our kids never latched onto Scarry’s books because they seemed like too much of an educational resource. Long’s books take the education from that classic series, updates it and weaves in storied comedic elements that’ll bring in today’s readers.

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