HOWDI DO

Radunsky (An Edward Lear Alphabet, 1999, etc.) suspends collage people constructed with large pieces of brightly colored, painted, or patterned paper over infectiously feel-good lyrics that invite readers and listeners to “stick out your little hand to every woman, kid and man,” while singing out the “Howjee, heejee, hijee, hojee, how di do, sir, doodle doo” nonsense chorus. Who could resist? The words and music for this classic toe tapper are printed inside the dust jacket; the trade edition is packaged with a free CD. Along with 1998's edition of This Land Is Your Land, illustrated by Kathy Jacobsen, here’s proof that both the breadth and the depth of vision in Guthrie’s music can survive the transition to another medium. (Picture book. 5-8)