The Little Woman Wanted Noise

by Val Teal, Robert Lawson (Illustrator)

Overview

A lost classic from the illustrator of The Story of Ferdinand and Mr. Popper’s Penguins.

CLANG! THUMP! WHOOSH! BANG! The big city is a noisy place.

But the little woman doesn’t mind, the big city is her home. Then one day she is given a wonderful gift, a “pleasant, peaceful farm” in the country. The farm is nearly perfect—only with all the quiet, the little woman can’t relax.

So she buys a cow, she buys a dog, a cat and a duck, a rooster, a pig. Now the farm is noisy indeed. Still, something’s missing. She decides to return to the city for that one special thing she knows will make her farm feel just like home. And by the end of her tale the little woman is happy to find that even though she has no rest, she has peace of mind.

Published only seven years after The Story of Ferdinand, The Little Woman Wanted Noise shows Robert Lawson at the peak of his talent and contains some of the most stunning and innovative black-and-white drawings in all of American picture-book history. They are the joyous accompaniment to Val Teal’s story, which reminds us that a life without a little chaos is no life at all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781590177112
Publisher:	New York Review Books
Publication date:	09/24/2013
Series:	New York Review Books Children's Collection
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	7.70(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Val Teal (1902–1997) was born in Bottineau, North Dakota, on February 14th, the third generation in her family to be born on Valentine’s Day. She did undergraduate work at the University of Minnesota during the 1920s and worked for many years as a tutor in the humanities at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. From the 1930s on she contributed personal essays and stories to such magazines as Saturday Evening Post, Woman’s Home Companion, Ladies’ Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, and Parents, but it was not until 1943 that she published her first book, The Little Woman Wanted Noise. In addition to her stories for children, Teal also wrote a memoir of motherhood, It Was Not What I Expected.

Robert Lawson (1892–1957) was a prolific writer and illustrator of literature for children and was the first person ever to receive both the Newbery and Caldecott medals. Among his forty-odd books are such classic stories as Rabbit Hill, Ben and Me, and They Were Strong and Good. In addition to The Little Woman Wanted Noise, The New York Review Children’s Collection publishes Wee Gillis by Munro Leaf, with illustrations by Robert Lawson.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Parents may lose [their minds] if they listen to the noises which the book will provoke from enthusiastic readers, but the children will have a raucously good time with it. And those of any age will respond to Robert Lawson’s illustrations, which pictures many familiar details for the young to search out.” —The New York Times
 
“The Little Woman Wanted Noise was Val Teal's first book. It tells the story of a little woman who lives in the city between a shoemaker and carpenter and below a printer, so it's always noisy…. The book is at base an animal noises book, with each new animal adding a sound to the list.” —Ariel S. Winter, Vintage Kids’ Books My Kids Love

Editorial Reviews

Parents may lose [their minds] if they listen to the noises which the book will provoke from enthusiastic readers, but the children will have a raucously good time with it. And those of any age will respond to Robert Lawson’s illustrations, which pictures many familiar details for the young to search out.” —The New York Times
 
“The Little Woman Wanted Noise was Val Teal's first book. It tells the story of a little woman who lives in the city between a shoemaker and carpenter and below a printer, so it's always noisy…. The book is at base an animal noises book, with each new animal adding a sound to the list.” —Ariel S. Winter, Vintage Kids’ Books My Kids Love

From the Publisher