Onomatopoeia for Very Small Listeners

NZ Writer and Illustrator

Rosalind Malam, illustrated by Sarah Nelisiwe Anderson

Rustle up a Rhythm

Scholastic 2015 $19.00pb  24pp

ISBN 978 1 7754 3148 0

Themes: Fathers and children/ Onomatopoeia

In a picture book full of onomatopoeic words a father and his two children have a noisy breakfast with the crunching of the cereal, the ping of the toaster, the swish of the washing up water. Then off into the town where the cicadas shriek, the horns blare and a there is a choppa choppa choppa from hovering helicopter.  This was published a couple of months ago but I have just come across it and after sharing it last week with a kindergarten group (be prepared to hear more about them in the weeks to come!) where it was so enthusiastically received I had to share it here too. If the group with which you share it is anything like ‘mine’ you will find you follow many other highways and byways before the story is through.

Preschool up/ Age 4 up