HI, HARRY!
The Moving Story of How One Slow Tortoise Slowly Made a Friend
by Martin Waddell & illustrated by Barbara Firth
After Buster Rabbit, Stan Badger, and Sarah Mouse gallop by, Harry Tortoise sets off at his own deliberate pace to find “someone not quick who has time to play with a tortoise.” Sporting an eye-catching red cap, Harry plods through a series of minimally detailed woodland scenes, trailed by a coterie of quizzical beetles, and meets up at last with Sam Snail, a perfect mate for such slo-mo games as “Heads In and Heads Out,” or leisurely conversations about “tree stumps and puddles, and mushrooms and moss.” S-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d beyond standard length to mimic Harry’s unhurried progress, this successor to the likes of Arlene Dubanevich’s Pig William (1985) or Eve Merriam’s Unhurry Harry (1978), with its muted colors and smiling, simply drawn figures, is bound to settle and soothe even the most rabbity young listeners. (Picture book. 5-7)