What's Your Sound, Hound The Hound? (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
Because this wasn't my first Cat the Cat book, I knew that even though it started out seemingly lame, there would be some sort of twist to make it worthwhile at the end. Sure enough, I was smiling as soon as I read, "What's your sound, Bunny the Bunny?" The befuddled look on the Bunny's face is great!As with Cat the Cat, Who is That?, my son loved the pictures. These books are obviously pleasing to the toddler set, but I think they'd be good for very early readers, too, as there is a ton of repetition in the text and all of the words are easy to sound out. Preschool-KIn this simple picture book Cat the Cat asks each of her animal friends, “What’s your sound?” They all reply except Bunny the Bunny who is too nervous to speak. Cat the Cat and her friends give him a reassuring hug, with the fun continuing onto the final dedication and copyright page showing everyone enjoying a snack. The simple, rhythmic text full of alliteration (Hound the Hound, Chick the Chick) is easy to read aloud while the repetitive phrase “What’s your sound?” sets up a call and response that engages young readers and listeners. The simple cartoon style art with its heavy lines and geometric shapes keeps the focus on the characters and action of the text. The soft, pastel green background color of the pages makes the characters stand out, especially their dialog given in white speech bubbles. Willems does a wonderful job of showing the expressions of the characters, especially the nervousness of Bunny, masterfully indicated with just a few lines to show his quivering ears. The layout of the pages is akin to a bare stage, with lots of negative space, just the characters and their dialog. The large typeface for Cat the Cat’s question of “What’s your sound?” emphasizes the simple nature of the story. Speech balloons for the other characters contain typeface that indicates the personality of each character. Chick has a small speech balloon with a tiny “peep!”, while Cow’s exuberant “mmmooo!” takes up the entire two page spread and literally blows Cat down. Bunny’s nervous answer to his sound is indicated by a small squiggle. Preschoolers just learning language, rhythm and rhyme will enjoy this story, great for storytimes or one on one sharing. Other titles in this series include “Time to Sleep, Sheep the Sheep” and “Cat the Cat, Who is That?”
What do You think about What's Your Sound, Hound The Hound? (2010)?
A nice repetative book for pre-and early readers. Fun to read aloud!
—bla
Cute, very Willems-y. My son likes the ending where "everybody hug."
—Ntnice
