Noisy Night

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 8, 2017

Review

It is night time in a tall apartment building and a boy can't sleep. He hears a noise above his head and wonders what the La La La is...thus the book begins. Each page uncovers one person/group that hear a noise above its/their head and wonder what it is. As the reader turns the page, the noisemaker is revealed. It is a nice concept, with large, bright, simple illustrations that perfectly convey the culprits (a little piece of the upstairs is shown so that the readers can guess). All of the noises follow the "aw" sound so it is a solid book for early readers discovering sounds and spelling, and who might feel empowered by always guessing the culprit correctly. Why does the old man always have to be the cranky one? This perpetuates the stereotype that elderly people are inflexible and prone to yell at others. Simplicity can be good, building phonetic understanding and confidence, but this is not an essential purchase.

Overall Book Score: fair