Hey! What's That Sound?

Deborah Dowson is a children’s librarian in Pickering, Ontario.

This read-aloud picture book demands participation from its readers. The
preschool audience will not need much encouragement to do exactly what
the book requires them to do—make noise!

The age-appropriate story of a visit from “Aunt Minnie” is told
from a child’s perspective. The events of the day are lively and
comical. The children listening to the story quickly catch on to the
repetition of the question “It sounds like?” and soon come to
anticipate its place in the story. The kids respond with sounds of
ringing, kissing, sipping, crunching, and more. It is definitely fun but
at the same time offers youngsters the cognitive challenge of matching
sounds to pictures. The visual art explicitly relates to the text and
separate close-ups of items help children to focus on each particular
sound. The examples used are familiar; the story is easy to follow and
easy for young children to identify with. The illustrations are colorful
and vivid, with enough detail and unexpected touches to keep them
interesting. All in all, a successful choice for a preschool storytime.
Recommended.