What Noise Does a Rabbit Make?
Happy Valentine’s Day!
It’s Perfect Picture Book Friday.
Here’s my selection:
What Noise Does a Rabbit Make?
Written By Carrie Weston
Illustrated by Richard Byrne
Andersen Press USA, 2013
Fiction
Suitable for: Ages 2- 5
Themes/Topics: Animals, Sounds, Cumulative story
Opening Line: In the still of the night, just before dawn, slowly and silently … the meadow filled with rabbits.
Synopsis: As the sun came up, “COCK-A-DOODLE-DO!” trumpeted the rooster, and then all at once the farm rang out with the noises of the other animals. Amid the ruckus, Raggety-Taggle quietly nibbled the grass and wondered just what noise does a rabbit make?
Link to Resources: Tagging game, Rabbit craft and coloring activities, Discuss what noises animals make.
Why I like this book: Poor Raggety-Taggle is too busy trying to discover his noise to see a cat ready to pounce. The rabbit runs for his life and well the entire barnyard is noisy and in chaos. The toot of the tractor’s horn makes everyone stop. The story returns full circle with a surprise about the rabbit’s noise.
I really like this story. I discovered the book during an online discussion about the viral YouTube Video What Does The Fox Say? being published as a children’s book. Author Marcie Colleen wrote about this on The Children’s Book Academy Blog. While I haven’t read the book version of the fox video, I ran to the library waiting for this book to arrive. I was delighted by the storyline, the noises, and the fun.
I also had another interest in this book. The story sounded vaguely familiar to me. Oh yes, to my own manuscript drafted in June 2012 called “What Noise Does a Snail Make?” Collective sigh. Don’t you love that.
My story was created in a summer class. It has logged a dozen or more revisions, 25 critiques (no joke I’ve shared with regular critique groups, Big Sur critique groups, with our local SCBWI Schmooze critique meetings, and a paid critique). I revamped the 35-word manuscript last fall with a new name and filled it out with 98 words. It has it’s own high energy involving a rolling armadillo and an action scene with the snail and turtle colliding.
I didn’t have to shake off the “oh no!” factor of this news when I read the rabbit book. Enzo and I have read it multiple times. The farm illustrations are lovely. The story is perfect in it’s simplicity.
While I didn’t like finding similar titles to my snail book in 2013, I found some really good picture books to read and I’ll count What Noise Does a Rabbit make among them. As for my friend Snail, well he has something to say, so I’ll let you know how 2014 treats him.
For more PPBF selections, visit Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog.