HELLO

Wang breathes new life into the story of the Chinese goddess of creation.

Nüwa, said to have molded humans out of mud, is commonly portrayed as a grown woman with a serpent’s body. Here, Wang portrays her as a pixie-size girl with black pointy hair and brown skin. The simple narrative reveals that “when the world was still young,” Nüwa was the only human. “She was happy, singing and dancing among the plants and animals.” Yet not one of the creatures responds when she says hello. Upset, she cries out to the universe, hoping for someone to talk to. No one replies. Stricken, Nüwa cries for three days, and a huge puddle forms from her tears. Running her hands through the mud, she creates a tiny, pink-skinned person, who finally greets her with a hello. After a fun-filled day introducing her new friend to her world, the person asks for more friends. Nüwa happily obliges, creating people of different colors who eventually spread out and build homes, cities, and families. Coming full circle, the narrator tells us that when people are lonely, all they have to do is say hello; on the next spread, we see the word hello in various languages. Busy, appealing illustrations teem with movement, while the completely black or white backdrops to each page create a stark contrast to the engaging animals, bugs, flora, and patterns rendered in a bright neon palette.

Eye-popping illustrations bring the charm in this novel folktale retelling.