WORDS THAT GO OOO

What words make the “ooo” sound?

Sometimes the title says it all! Alongside her signature flamboyant illustrations, Hannigan compiles a rollicking series of rhyming words. She starts with clear instructions: “Let’s say some words that go ooo!” and then includes one “ooo” term per spread, among them expected choices like a “choo choo” train bumping along the tracks and a “moo” cow. But she also incorporates more esoteric selections, including verbs. Preschoolers will relish theatrically joining in as a brown-skinned child sneezes (“achoo!”) and forcefully demanding that two french fry–loving seagulls “shoo.” Fly-surrounded “poo” might inspire scandalized giggles. The book aptly wraps up with a staring owl questioning “Who?” followed by a dark-skinned youngster, owl on head, answering “YOU!” Featuring comprehensible, stylized images set against bright backgrounds with dashes of Day-Glo orange, this is a particularly versatile selection. The high-contrast visuals will attract the infant set, while older tots will love guessing and yelling out answers. Hannigan’s blocky collaged pictures have serious panache. An incredulous black cat judges the sneezer. A blobby ghost, mouth agape, appears to be haunting the book. A witch with “brew” veritably cackles. Useful for speech development, the book opens on a tan-skinned child whose mouth is open in an “O” shape, the facial formation that makes the “ooo” sound. Humans are diverse in skin color.

Woohoo! Be sure to CHOOSE this gleeful book about first sounds!