GOBBLE, GROWL, GRUNT

It's not hard to believe the jacket blurb's claim that over 600 animals are portrayed in this buzzing succession of double-page spreads, each crowded with a jumble of creatures and Spier's orthographic interpretation of the noises they make. There's the predictable community of barnyard fowl with its clucks and gobbles and honks, a more ingenious water scene with hippos (RRUMMPF), flamingos (ONGK), crocodiles (silent) and others, a tree full of starlings saying SWEET, TWEE, WEET and FEE-YOU, an arctic cacophony of OOOORR, PURR-LA-LA, BRRRRR, FLAP-FLAP-FLAP, and KWEE-AKKAH-KAK, and many many more in all sorts of poses and juxtapositions. To an adult it's distractingly busy, but you probably won't be allowed to turn a page until every last bee has been buzZEEEEEEEEingly vocalized.