hello! hello!

Title: hello! hello! 
Author: Matthew Cordell 
Illustrator: Matthew Cordell 
Publisher: Hyperion 
Publication Date: October, 2012 
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: Outside the world is bright and colorful, but Lydia's family is too busy with their gadgets to notice. She says Hello to everyone. Hello? Hello! Her father says hello while texting, her mother says hello while working on her laptop and her brother doesn't say hello at all. The T.V shouts Hello! But she doesn't want to watch any shows. Lydia, now restless, ventures outside. There are so many things to say hello to! Hello rocks! Hello leaves! Hello flowers! When Lydia comes back home she decides to show her family what she has found, and it's hello world and goodbye gadgets! 
What I Think:  At first I thought this was a silly book but then I realized how much it is a message about how we interact with each other and how that is impacted by technology. I often feel so connected with the world because of technology but it is amazing to stop and think about how normal face to face interactions are different today because of technology. Peanut has a friend from school who lives across the culdesac from us. My initial instinct most of the time is to call or text to see if they are available but I've purposefully stopped myself and instead marched ourselves on over to knock on their door. When I was a kid, I didn't grow up in a neighborhood with friends just a few houses away. Our house was down a half-mile lane with neighbors too far away. I always wanted to live in a regular neighborhood with friends to play with...and we have that now so I remind myself that we don't always have to call or text ahead of time, just stopping by is still okay.
     This book reminded me of the message in It's a Book by Lane Smith. I love how this could be used with students of all ages to talk about technology and imagination and taking advantage of the world we have all around us. I'm sure this would inspired intense discussions about the pros and cons of technology and how we use it appropriately and inappropriately!
Read Together: Grades K - 12 
Read Alone: Grades 3 - 6 
Read With: It's a Book! by Lane Smith, Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell, I'm Bored by Michael Ian Black, Oliver by Birgitta Sif, For Just One Day by Laura Leuck
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Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Asking Questions, Making Inferences 

Writing Strategies to Practice: Personal Narrative, Expository, Persuasive 
Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you put your imagination to work. With a friend, use your imagination to create a new game or a variation of a game you already know. Write a instructions for how to play this game. Write a persuasive essay about technology - is technology a good thing or a bad thing? 
Topics Covered: Imagination, Technology, Family

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