Roar of a Snore
Written by Marsha Diane Arnold
Pictures by Pierre Pratt
Dial Books for Young Readers, 2006
Suitable for: Ages 3 and up
Theme/topic: Sleep
Opening: The sky was dark. The stars were bright.
Each Huffle fast asleep that night.
Brief Synopsis: Disturbed by a deafening snore, Jake wakes up the family and animals one by one in search of the noisy culprit.
Link to resources: Activities on the author’s website include Building Storytelling Skills. The activity sheet can be downloaded as a PDF or a Word document.
Why I chose the book: I found this at the library and fell in love with the names in the book — Blue, Sue, Papa Ben and Mama Gwyn, Josie Jo and Jennie Lynn — as Jack investigates the noise. Re-reading the book for this post also reminded me of my recent trip to visit family. The whole house rumbled with noises as everyone slept. I know I wasn’t snoring, only because I was sitting at the kitchen table doing homework.
To find more Perfect Picture Books, visit Susanna Leonard Hill’s Blog.
This Kid Reviews Books
My sister’s name is Josephine, and we call her Josie, JoJo, and Jo! We have to get this book! 🙂
Stacy S. Jensen
I love the variations of your sister’s name.
Karen S. Elliott
What a coincidence – I was just talking about snoring with the grandsons last night. They were complaining about their cousin’s snoring. Shawn (5) said, “If I put my head against the wall, I can hear it.” Then Wayne (7) gave me an example.
Stacy S. Jensen
There are lots of fun snoring examples.
Susanna Leonard Hill
This sounds REALLY fun, Stacy!!! I don’t know why, but snoring is so entertaining 🙂 When we were kids, my dad used to fall asleep in his chair on Sunday afternoons and snoresnoresnore… and suddenly stop… until we were like “Breathe Dad!” and then suddenly the snoring would rev up again. We thought it was SO FUNNY! 🙂 Thanks for adding this book to our list – I like the names too 🙂
Susan Oloier
What a cute book! I’m going to check to see if our library has it.
Emily R. King
How cute! Thanks for the rec!
Julie Hedlund
This book sounds adorable. Thanks for the share!
Susanne Drazic
Sounds like a cute book.
pennyklostermann.com
This book is so precious!!! I mean…just the title is unbelievably appealing. I would love to own it but I can’t every book! Thanks for the review 🙂
Julie Rowan-Zoch
Oh yeah, love it! Great pick Stacy!
Patricia T.
Kids will certainly enjoy trying to figure out who is snoring. What a fun book. My grandmother’s name was Josephine.
Richa Jha
This books sounds so awfully cute! And I love the cover; it’s the kind of cover I’d make a mad dash for without batting an eyelid, if there were to be more contenders for it:)
Thanks for sharing it here, Stacy!
Laura Anne
Whew….I thought this story was about me. Seriously… I inherited my grandma’s nasal passages. Sounds fun, but I’m going to have to empathize with the snoree.
Sandi Purdell-Lewis
I think this book needs to find its way into my husband’s Christmas stocking!!
Stacy S. Jensen
Sandi, Yep. It might make a funny gift, unless he doesn’t know he snores.
Joanna
This sounds a little like a 4goodnight Jim-Bob’ book!
Carrie Finison
Isn’t it funny what draws you to a book? I love those names, too, especially Josie Jo.
Laura Renauld
Fun! We all have a snorer in our life with which to share this book. And the kids will crack up!
Tracy Campbell
Love the title of the book. I want to know more. I’ll have to check out this book.
The ending of your post tied in the book nicely. Great job, Stacy! 🙂
readingwithrhythm
I think that I am going to have to look for this book. I’ve been told that I snore VERY loudly. I don’t know, but I do know that sometimes when I fall asleep in a classroom, I am often awakened by hysterical laughing.
Stacy S. Jensen
I snore too.
Janet Smart
This sounds like a funny book. Kids would love it.
Debbie Maxwell Allen
Sounds like a good book. I’m surprised that so many books are rhyming, when a lot of PB workshops I’ve been to tell writers to stay away from rhyming.
~Debbie
Stacy S. Jensen
Debbie, they always say that to discourage those who can’t rhyme, People (kids and adults) enjoy reading them.
Marsha Diane Arnold
Thanks so much for choosing my book for your blog, Stacy! I’m delighted. I love choosing names for my characters. BTW, there are actually two twists at the end of this book. Whew! Twists are hard for me, but I did it. Ha.
ROAR OF A SNORE was chosen as a Dolly Parton Imagination Library book for 3 years, so Dolly’s team enjoyed it.
Stacy, if you ever have guest bloggers, I’d be delighted to join you on your blog. Currently, I’m writing an online course on how to write wonderful character-driven picture books and I definitely mention Jack Huffle and his search for the snore. The course will be launched December 1st. Here’s a sneak preview. 🙂 http://www.picturebookacademy.com/writing-character-driven-stories.html