THE VERY NOISY HOUSE

A vibrant invitation to enter a wonderfully rowdy home—and engage in some irresistible read-a-loud fun.

Readers are encouraged to open a gate (“SQUEEEAK”), head into a garden that’s chock-full of animals announcing themselves (“NEIGH!” “CAW!” “GRRR!), and add their own voices to the cacophony (for instance, make the doorbell go “DING DONG!”). The interactive fun continues inside. In the music room, an unseen narrator offers multiple suggestions (“Can you make a noise like a big brass trumpet?”). After some time in the echo room, a trapdoor drops readers into the spooky cellar: “WOOOOOO-OOO, BOO!” Next, it’s on to a quiet maze, where readers must whisper and then gently knock “TIP-A-TAP.” The “very, very LOUD room” features cymbals, megaphones, and the room-rocking challenge “How loud can you shout?” Comic, if not auditory, relief awaits in the “mixed-up room,” where a monkey quacks and an owl lets out a “baa.” After an encounter with a lion in the hallway and a jaunt through the “SILLY room,” readers reach the bedroom haven, where only sleepy-time sounds are heard, including the best of all: “I love you.” The energy level on nearly every spread is high. Tots will have a blast—this is one house where using your indoor voice is firmly discouraged. Strikingly vibrant colors brighten jam-packed, chaotic, yet well-composed pages filled with grinning, active kids diverse in skin tone and ability and animals both recognizable and invented.

No buttons or screens here, but this book promises maximum visual and auditory engagement.