{"id":38626,"date":"2021-01-31T00:40:19","date_gmt":"2021-01-31T04:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=38626"},"modified":"2021-01-31T00:40:19","modified_gmt":"2021-01-31T04:40:19","slug":"review-of-sounds-all-around-by-dr-james-chapman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=38626","title":{"rendered":"Review of Sounds All Around, by Dr. James Chapman"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Sounds All Around<\/p>\n

A Guide to Onomatopoeias Around the World<\/em><\/p>\n

by Dr. James Chapman<\/p>\n

Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2020. 165 pages.
\nReview written November 13, 2020, from a book sent by the publisher
\nStarred Review
\n2020 Sonderbooks Stand-out<\/a>:
\n#3 General Children’s Nonfiction<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what it says on the page at the front of this book:<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s Make Some Noise<\/strong><\/p>\n

Learning the sounds animals make is an essential part of language learning. Spending hours and hours pretending you\u2019re a chicken or a dog is not only great fun, it\u2019s educational, too. If you grew up speaking English, you probably already know your woofs and meows from your clucks and quacks \u2013 but how does the rest of the world describe sounds?<\/p>\n

[This next part has cartoon animals.]
\nIn Japanese, cats don\u2019t go MEOW. \u201cNYAN!\u201d
\nIn German, pigs don\u2019t go OINK. \u201cGRUNZ!\u201d
\nIn Hindi, frogs don\u2019t go RIBBIT. \u201cTARR!\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a whole world of words for all the sounds you know and love! (And even some words for sounds that don\u2019t show up in English.)<\/p>\n

The words that imitate sounds are known as \u201conomatopoeia.\u201d These words are a wonderfully strange and interesting part of language. After all, we hear the same sounds, but we interpret and write them differently in different languages.<\/p>\n

If you sing \u201cOld McDonald Had a Farm\u201d in French, your farmyard ducks go \u201ccoin coin\u201d instead of \u201cquack quack,\u201d and in Russian they go \u201ckrya krya.\u201d From the sound of a speeding car, to the sound a dog makes, to the sound of rain, there are almost as many words for these sounds as there are languages!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The format of this book is chapters of types of sounds with spreads looking at one certain type of sound in multiple languages. It\u2019s in graphic novel format, so we see the sounds in speech bubbles coming from cartoon animals or characters or things. The chapters are \u201cAnimal Noises,\u201d \u201cOn the Farm,\u201d \u201cIn the Zoo,\u201d \u201cLoud Noises,\u201d \u201cNatural Noises,\u201d \u201cNoisy Machines,\u201d \u201cSounds of the Human Body,\u201d and \u201cSounds of Emotion.\u201d<\/p>\n

We learn fascinating things, such as \u201cKusukusu\u201d being the Japanese word for \u201cHa Ha\u201d and \u201cTagaktak\u201d being the Filipino word for \u201cSplat\u201d and \u201cVzheeh\u201d being how Russians say \u201cZoom.\u201d It\u2019s all mind-expanding to think about the many different languages, but also mind-expanding to realize how many different words we have in our own language for sounds.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t a book that fits neatly into a curriculum anywhere. You couldn\u2019t use it to learn a language. But it\u2019s super fun to read and to think about. This is a book that could easily capture a child\u2019s imagination. I know it captured mine.<\/p>\n

The one little thing that I wish it had is a pronunciation guide, since I know in some languages, English letters don’t make the same sounds. Though perhaps they left that out because once they started, it would have gotten tricky with so many languages used. This keeps it light and fun, but still informative.<\/p>\n

andrewsmcmeel.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/sounds_all_around.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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