31 Days of Awesome Kids' Books: Listen, Listen! (& a giveaway!)

My friend loaned us Listen, Listen!, by Phillis Gershator, and Eleanor and I have both fallen in love with it. It's a big size board book, with beautiful, rounded illustrations that are painted with a soft, crackled effect. The onomatopoetic text arches around pictures, in the white part of the page, so it's eye-catching.

The book tells the story of seasons, starting with summer:

Listen, listen... what's that sound? Insects singing all around!

Chirp, chirp, churr, churr, buzz, buzz, whirr, whirr.

Then comes autumn:

Listen, listen... summer's gone. Good-bye insects, autumn's come.

Plop, plop, acorns drop. Hurry, scurry, squirrels hop.

And Eleanor's favorite pages, winter:

Crunch, crunch, boots clomp. Grown-ups shovel, children romp.

Skaters spin, skiers glide. Zip, zoom, slip, slide.

Then, finally, spring arrives!

Crick, crack, babies hatch. Peep, peep, chickens scratch.

Frogs croak, ducklings quack. Munch, munch, rabbits snack.

And things end full circle as the book concludes:

Chirp, chirp, churr, churr, buzz, buzz, whirr, whirr.

Past the final text there are also four images; one for each season, and a list of things beneath each for kids to find. Some of them are really hard for Eleanor (dragonfly, acorn, daffodil, mistletoe) but some are easy (snowflake, rabbit, sunflower, owl).

I can't express how much I love Listen, Listen!. It's gorgeous. And we can read it over and over and over again, and I don't get tired of it -- which is an all-too-rare gift.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Recommended age: 1-5

Win it! 

UPDATE 10/21: Congratulations to commenter #21 Laura - who loves spring and the warm weather after a long winter inside! I'll be contacting you for your address soon, Laura.


Barefoot Books has graciously agreed to provide one lucky Quirky Bookworm reader with a copy of Listen, Listen!. To enter to win: leave a comment telling me which season is your favorite, and why.
 

For a bonus entry, like Quirky Bookworm on Facebook, and leave a separate comment telling me that you did so (or that you already have liked Quirky Bookworm in the past). 

Two entries per person. Giveaway will close at midnight 10/20. I'll randomly choose a winner, and contact you for your info. No PO Boxes, US and UK only please. I wasn't paid or perked to write this... I just loved the book so much I emailed them and asked them to give one of you a copy. (Maybe I should've asked for a copy for myself too, darn!) 

This post is day fourteen of my 31 Days of Awesome Kids' Books.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.