Hear That? [Hardcover]

Tama Janowitz (Author), Tracy Arah Dockray (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up

Maybe it's a mouse. Maybe it's a wombat. It may even be a walrus trying to escape from the refrigerator! As a mother and child wonder what each click, knock, and rattle in their house could possibly be, each guess gets wilder and wilder in this fantastic flight of imagination by novelist Tama Janowitz. Witty pictures and a clever text, chock-full of sounds, make this a perfect read-aloud. Young readers will be begging to Hear That? over and over again!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This rather bland dialogue between a mother and son begins in a dim living room, where a TV illuminates the remains of dinner. In the doorway to an untidy hall, the ominous words "buzz, buzz, buzz" appear. " `Ssshhh,' I said. `Hear that?' `Yes,' said Mom. `Maybe it's Daddy.' " The two investigate, but find only castoff toys and a banana peel. When the earnest narrator suggests that the buzzing could be a fly, his pert mother initiates a game, saying, "No... Hear that?" A "squeak, squeak, squeak," written in spiky black letters, emanates from the bedroom. Accompanied by their puzzled dog, the mother and son tiptoe around the house, alert to every thump, click and squish ("Maybe it's our wombat.... Or even our kangaroos!"). Novelist-turned-mom Janowitz (Slaves of New York) escalates the sequence into nonsense, then shows that the first guess was right. The child's grinning father bursts in with a dripping umbrella, and his wet appearance suggests that a storm produced the mysterious sounds. Dockray (Grimm's Grimmest) characterizes the family as wide-eyed and wholesome, and depicts a sloppy home where ants devour a leftover jelly sandwich and a walrus tumbles out of the fridge. With the possible exception of the "ginip-ginop," a bearish purple monster that fills an entire spread, the fantasy noisemakers amuse rather than frighten. This tepid tale's suspense depends on read-aloud performance, ideally on a rainy evening. Ages 5-8.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-A silly onomatopoeic story with a slight mystery. A mother and son are watching television when they hear a faint buzzing sound. "Hear THAT?" asks the boy. When the woman suggests the sound might be his father returning home, the child disagrees, pointing out that, since his father "doesn't go BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ," it might be a fruit fly. Squeaks, squishes, clicks, taps, etc., are noises that could be anything to a vivid imagination, and the lad's suggestions become more and more outlandish: a mouse, a butler, a banana, a wombat, a ginip-ginop. It turns out, of course, to be Daddy, who has forgotten his keys and has been attempting to arouse the household. Large, brightly hued, computer-aided watercolors depict all the creatures the boy imagines in the act of noise-making. The double-page illustrations reveal varying perspectives, which maintain interest and show the disorder of a house in which a child lives. The repetition of sounds throughout may encourage very young children to make the various noises and suggest what they might be.
Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587170744
• ISBN-13: 978-1587170744
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,964,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An adventure with sounds, June 10, 2001

By 

Tara "saltyreader4" (Kutztown, Pa United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hear That? (Hardcover)

Hear That? How many of us have played this game w/our child(ren)? Here is a new book that takes the journey to a really silly imaginative level. As a boy and his mom wait for dad to come home there are various sounds in the house. They each take turns figuring out what the sounds could be and make a great in house adventure out of it. From butlers to walruses in the fridge and slippery banana peels you will laugh and learn. The illustrator used a unique and wonderful technique to bring the story to life. This could possibly get a Caldicott for 2001 either winner or honor.

Read this book.