Lily is painful­ly shy. But when her moth­er vol­un­teers at the Shalom House, Lily begs to come along. Every­one is friend­ly at the retire­ment home, but when they crowd around to say hel­lo, Lily is over­come by her shy­ness. Every­one at the Shalom House tries to help the young girl. ​“She’ll be ready when she’s ready,” advis­es Mrs. Rosen­baum, Lily’s neigh­bor until she moved to the Shalom House. Lily returns to the retire­ment home with her moth­er each week, grow­ing a bit braver with each vis­it. She joins the seniors for exer­cise time and even is there dur­ing the par­ty for every­one with a May birth­day. But Lily’s birth­day is also in May, and she knows exact­ly whom she wants to cel­e­brate with. Say Hel­lo, Lily is a delight­ful sto­ry with sev­er­al impor­tant mes­sages. As timid chil­dren watch Lily over­come her shy­ness, they will feel empow­ered to do the same. The sto­ry also helps bridge the gap between young chil­dren and the elder­ly. The appeal­ing illus­tra­tions rein­force these themes with gen­tle, smil­ing faces of the seniors as they help Lily find her courage. For ages 4 – 8.

Read­ing Guide