In the Quiet, Noisy Woods by Michael J. Rosen

In the Quiet, Noisy Woods Reviews

• 
  Calista

  We had so much fun with this book. There were cute animals. The charm of it was reading this aloud. We were all on the bed together and it starts out like ‘the 12 days of Christmas’ and it adds a verse each page. This is all about sounds. We start off with our two wolf cubs with their grr-ruff-ruff and yip-yap-yowls. Then we meet squirrels up a tree going chit-chitter chattering. Saying this over and over and adding more and more, if you really get into the sounds, the kids were laughing and going nuts for this stuff.
  
  It rattles and hums along. The artwork looks computer drawn, so it’s cute, but it’s missing something in the imperfection or the human touch.
  
  The niece got into this and she remembered the sounds and she would join in with me on the chorus. She gave this 4 great stars. The nephew did his best to join in as well, but he thought this was the best. He gave it 5 stars. He wanted to read it again.
• 
  Rod Brown

  Spending my wife's birthday reading through a small pile of picture books together. (5 of 5)
  
  All the animal noises makes this a fun book to read out loud, but it is totally carried by the gorgeous art. The adorable wolf pups elicited many high pitched squees from these two adult readers.
• 
  Kathryn

  I agree with the other reviewers who found the text very annoying and long-winded. However, the illustrations are lovely. Kids might like the repetition in the story or perhaps someone really gifted in read-aloud could make this special. For me it was not a winner.
• 
  ꧁ ꕥ Stacy ꕥ ꧂

  I wanted to like this book more, but was a little let down. The illustrations are beautiful, but the story is tedious with all the animal sounds. Normally, I like reading books with animal sounds for storytime, but this one is too long and with too many similar sounding words that become more "tongue twister" than fun sounds. The back matter describing the animals found in the story is nice; I see teachers using it in the classroom.
• 
  Amanda

  Somebody's editor should have come and waded into this mess of a book and been utterly RUTHLESS. Just slashed the extraneousness of the text, and trimmed it down into something that was readable. Nope. This book is tedious and far too long and goes on and on and on and has no heart or true rhythm or poetry and just like this sentence drags a person down into the depths of utter despair as it rambles on into nowhere. BLECH.
  
  Why didn't they just stick with the use of the onomatopoeia and keep it simple? That would have been the best?
  
  The illustrations, on the other hand, are MAGICAL! I tried to read the text but found myself zoning out from sheer desperation and a sense of self preservation; thankfully the pictures were there to look at and rescue me from the dreadful mess that was this lousy loud quiet. This concept has been done better by others; this will not hold a child's attention. Very sad. Very annoying. *sigh*
• 
  Beverly

  This is a fun, cumulative tale focusing on the sounds seven different animals and birds make as they are disturbed by a couple of wolf cubs gamboling in the forest. Sounds such as "yip-yap-yowls," "chit-chitter-chattering," "fwap-fwap-flaps," and more. The pages glow with appealing, large-eyed mammals and birds, blue skies, trees and flowers. The woods are noisy while the pups chase each other and disturb others, then things settle down when they rejoin the pack. The author gives a bit more information on each of the eight mammals and birds in the back of the book. This would be a great book to share with a group of preschool children.
• 
  Adele

  Beautiful illustrations, many of them with positively adorable wolf cubs. I looked at each picture for a long time and then returned to my favorites after finishing the story. The pictures are definitely the best thing about this book, but I also enjoyed the rollicking story of the cubs eventually disturbing the whole forest with their play, and I thought the animal sounds were fun. The final spread is perfect - a work of art. The brief informational section about the animals is kind of superficial and not particularly well-written, but interesting.
• 
  Mary Lee

  Such a fun cumulative story of the sounds in the woods, filled with onomatopoeia and hyphenated words. Great examples of rich language and creative lead/ending.
• 
  Rebecca

  I like the point of the book that even though Woods are quiet, there’s actually a lot of noise in Nature. It was a little awkward to read-aloud.
• 
  Jillian

  Really gorgeous illustrations, but it's one of those books that builds on itself (a la "This is the house that Jack built"). So it gets very long and becomes tiresome AND the text slightly changes with each page so it's not actually a repetition story. You *could* get kids to chime in with the animal sounds, but there's no way you'd actually have them shouting along with you for the last sentence each time.
• 
  Molly Cluff (Library!)

  I'm a sucker for any book with pretty forest illustrations! This is one of those books that builds upon itself (starts off with wolf pups "grr-ruff-ruffing," who then disrupt a squirrel, and etc etc). Each animal has a unique sound. I feel like this book could go either way in a storytime: either it would be really fun and interactive (like having certain groups do certain sounds), or it would tip over into the realm of "too complicated" (since all of the animals have unique sounds, not just the traditional "noises" we always hear, and it's tricky to remember). Could be fun for a program on "sounds" or "the forest" if executed effectively.
• 
  Pat Cummings

  This is a great introduction for kids to a host of woodland creatures...all with their own languages. I could see this being a big success as a read aloud because kids would want to join in all of the animal calls. The illustrations are gorgeous. Not only do the lush images capture a sense of a private, wild but familiar forest setting but the changing light of day provides a story arc as a family of wolves moves through their day. Annie Won imbues all of the wild animals with a sense of individual personality through her imaginative and luminous artwork. Really lovely.
• 
  Jana

  This book uses rhythmic text and beautiful illustrations to show a moment in nature: a pair of wolf cubs playing in the woods and causing a bit of a ruckus. The book is also a cumulative tale as each page introduces the sounds a disturbed creature makes as they become aware of the playful cubs. This would be a great tool to use to talk about the use of onomatopoeia in literature and maybe to use as a mentor text for young writers trying to describe the sounds of a particular environment.
• 
  Sheila

  great for a storytime.
• 
  Tracie

  Two little wolf cubs set the quiet woods alight with warnings and sounds as they tumble and rumble through this language rich tale.
• 
  L.M. Ransom

  Very cute. Love the pictures of the turkeys in particular.
• 
  Linda Atkinson

  Thinking the kids would love all that quiet noise ;-)
• 
  Tegan

  A cute story about all the animals in the woods. This would be a fun read-a-loud. I really loved the illustrations.
• 
  Becca

  Delightful cumulative rhyme story with lots of lovely onomatopoeia and animal sounds--set in the woods.
• 
  Nikki Glassley

  This book was too much. I found myself skimming because it was just really tedious. The illustrations are lovely, but the text? Pass.
• 
  wildct2003

  Cute story
• 
  Kelly

  It was okay. I think that children will like it, but I also think it's too wordy. Great illustrations.
• 
  Amy

  The woods are full of the sounds of animals chirping, trilling and howling. Beautiful illustrations that have a Disney feel to them. The story develops after a few pages, following wolf pups as they scamper along, startling the whole forest until the find their way back home to the happy howls of their parents. Parents will have fun making all of the animal sounds.
• 
  emyrose8

  The text adds on to itself, repeating the cadence with minor tweaks each page. I like all the onomatopoeia. The story itself is better for younger grades, maybe 1-2nd? The back of the book features notes about the animals that take part in the story. The illustrations are beautiful!
• 
  Hawthorn T.-D.

  It was about two wolf pups who get lost after they go off by themselves. While they were lost, lots of animals made lots of noises. At the end, they find their family. I loved it SO MUCH because it was quiet and noisy.
• 
  Mary Hamer

  Wordy and repetitive verse but lots of onomatopoeia.