6 Stupendous Sound Picture Books

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?, by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle
Eric Carle is one of the most beloved illustrators of children’s books, but this book is a classic in large part because of how much fun it is to say the names of the different sounds the animals make: roaring, fluting, braying, trumpeting and hissing.

I Howl, I Growl, by Marcia Vaughan and Polly Powell
If your kid loves Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? try this board book for a southwestern spin on animal sounds and actions. Meet the desert tortoise, ringtail, kangaroo rat, coyote, elf owl, scorpion, and other residents of the desert in this colorful, rhyming story.

The Sound of Silence, by Katrina Goldsaito and Julia Kuo
Yoshio is a boy growing up in Tokyo, and each day as he heads out, “The sounds of the city swirled all around him—Tokyo was like a symphony hall!” One day he finds an elderly woman playing the traditional Japanese koto, and he asks her what her favorite sound is. She replies, “The most beautiful sound is the sound of ma, of silence.” From then on Yoshio sets out on a quest to find silence in his noisy city. Kids will love to learn the Japanese words for different sounds in this gorgeously illustrated book.

Too Much Noise, by Ann McGovern and Simms Taback
This 1967 story is a classic of the grumpy old man picture book genre. An old man named Peter, with a long, white beard, decides that even the sound of the wind through the trees and the whistling tea kettle are too noisy. He consults the neighborhood wise man, who advises him to get a cow. Peter is perplexed at this solution, but he does as advised and brings home a cow. Noise-filled hilarity ensues.

Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin, by Lloyd Moss and Marjorie Priceman
In jouncy rhymes, this vibrant book introduces the sounds of instruments, from the “mournful moan and silken tone” of the trombone to the “bright and brassy” French horn. Readers will enjoy watching the combo of players in this story grow from a duo and a trio into a nonet and finally a chamber group of ten.

Roadwork, by Sally Sutton and Brian Lovelock
Construction noise might make you reach for the earplugs, but for a lot of kids, the sounds of backhoes beeping and cement trucks rumbling is music to their ears. This kid-pleaser is filled with sound, including the “Ping! Bang! Tap” of the hammer and the “Screech! Boom! Whoosh!” of the bulldozer.