Brightly colored foil accents jazz up an infant-friendly black-and-white introduction to a variety of familiar and friendly creepy-crawlies. Onomatopoeia provides a little linguistic whimsy to accompany the otherwise-straightforward text. "Hello, Ladybug! (scurry, scurry) / Hello, Caterpillar! (munch, munch)"—and so on to the final page: "Bye-bye, Butterfly! (flit, float)." The critters all grin broadly and gaze with distinctly un-insectlike eyes out at the readers (the bee is particularly nonthreatening). Judicious use of foil serves to add color without detracting from the high-contrast effect; the snail has small red dots on its shell, and the worm pokes up its head among some shiny blades of green grass. Together with its companion, Hello, Animals! (ISBN: 978-1-58925-861-7), it's an enjoyable introduction to the great outdoors that will gently stimulate the visual cortex to boot. (Board book. 0-6 mos.)
