HELLO SPRING!

Hello Kitty, the well-known cartoon cat of Japanese origin, explores the seasons.

In typical Sanrio style, the little white kitty, often shown sporting a bright pink bow, enjoys springtime activities in double-page spreads that feature bold, black outlines and highly saturated colors. In backgrounds that stretch to the edges of the pages, she plays baseball, enjoys a picnic, strolls in the park, cavorts in rain puddles and flies a kite with several of her friends. The text is a simple salutation that mirrors the title (“Hello flowers! / Hello butterflies!”) and appears on the upper-left-hand side of the page in a bold white font (the only exception is the final spread, where it appears in the upper right). The sister book, Hello Summer!, uses exactly the same format to depict a day at the beach, an ice cream social, a sailboat ride, a tennis game, a swim in a pool, bike riding and a trip to an amusement park for Hello Kitty and her buddies.

While the action is minimal, the clear, simple art lends itself to toddlers’ learning to identify and name objects.