Make some noise with this exuberant celebration of sounds – some familiar, some a tad more unconventional – and practise counting skills as the cacophony of sounds grows and grow.
Kicking off with a resounding bang – or rather a mighty ‘Doing!’ – this book starts as it means to go on: in a very noisy fashion!
From rat-a-tat knocks on the door to a chorus of “Who is it?”, some hearty ‘ha ha’ chuckles to the zzzzz sizzle of a barbecue, there are interesting sounds all around inviting your child to join in and imitate them.
As a clever double strand to the book, the sounds become more frequent with each page, giving your child the chance to count, from a loved-up couple with two corresponding ‘mwahs’ to a
quintet of high 5 salutations and
9 flutters of a butterfly’s wings
Some of the words encourage movement and interaction too, from the in-and-out wave motion of an accordian that goes ‘fomfim, fomfim’ (and why not?) to the huffing ‘fff fff’ exertions of a weight-lifter doing his workout, so your child will be getting a physical workout as well as exercising her vocal chords.
Madalena Matoso’s delightful illustrations have an ‘art naif’ feel with their stylised flat appearance and sunny smiley faces that perfectly reflects the playfulness of childhood, adding to the upbeat cheery mood.
A perfect book for reading aloud (very loud!) with accompanying actions. And when you’ve finished, be sure to give yourself a round a applause.
*** IN THE MOOD TO LISTEN? *** Read our review of the gorgeous Do You Hear What I Hear? by Helen Borten.
Fun fact According to The Guinness Book of World Records, the Midmer-Losh organ in the Atlantic City Convention Hall is the largest and loudest instrument in the world. This gargantuan organ has 33,112 pipes and 7 keyboards. Its loudest note, a trumpet sound, is six times louder than a steam locomotive whistle.
Did you know? Sound travels through the air in waves – the bigger the waves the more powerful they are and the louder the noise. Sound waves can’t travel when there isn’t any air so that’s how we know space is silent.
Author notes Born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1974, Madalena Matoso studied Communication Design at Lisbon College of Fine Arts and post-graduated in Graphic Editorial Design at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Barcelona. In 1999, she created Planeta Tangerina, an illustration and graphic design company with three friends. In 2006, Planeta Tangerina began publishing picture books. She has won several awards for her picture books including a Special Mention Award in the National Prize for Illustration and the National Award for Illustration for “A Charada da Bicharada” (The Riddle of the Animals), published by Texto Editores with text by Alice Vieira.
