Grandpa's Noises by Gareth St John Thomas and Colin Rowe (Children's, Picture book, 10E/10E)

 13th June 2019, EK Books, 32 pages, Hardback, Review copy

Summary from EK Books

Children love laughing about body noises. In Grandpa’s Noises, a range of sounds and words coming from body and mouth are explained in a warm and funny intergenerational romp. For example, ‘Eyenolessgofurawark’ is obviously Grandpa-speak for ‘I know, let’s go for a walk’. But some sounds — like the ‘Fffffffft’ that sometimes escapes Grandpa’s bottom — need no explanation!

Nayu's Thoughts

Apologies,  this review got delayed from 6th of June because I was ill. 

This book is utterly charming in both story and illustrations. I went in with an expectation of knowing exactly who the child was, and I was totally wrong, which made me smile as the child in question is a child I'm very fond of, and just goes to show anyone can be a child at anytime. Stereotypes are made to be broken, which Grandpa's child does.

The human body is amazing with all the processes it does mostly automatically. As we age, or, like me, have faulty bodies that go wrong all the time, new issues arise, some silent, some noisy. This book explores all those noises, what they sound like (including mumblings: the parts where Grandpa mumbles are hilarious, read them carefully!) All are accurate, and are definitely entertaining for children who will no doubt to great joy in replicating the noises, some will be easier than others. 

Older readers will possibly better understand the reasons behind all the noises, although any children with experience of knowing someone who has creaky bones will understand that aspect of the tale. There are the usual, most predictable noises that I don't even need to mention, I really liked how Grandpa's voice was made harder to understand, and how his bones creaked (mine do too....I am much younger than him but have a faulty body). I liked how the noises were portrayed in both text and image, which added to the humour of the book. All illustrations tell a story, and these are particularly expressive and colourful, adding  to the depth of the tale with colour and size dfferences to any words/noises.

I hope that reading this book will help younger readers understand why the body isn't always quiet, that noises are perfectly natural and some bodies are noisier than others. People can be embarrassed about noises so only laugh if they laugh too. 

Suggested read

For another grandparent themed book check out Grandma Forgets by Paul Russell & Nicky Johnston? (Children's, Picture book, 10E/10E)