Sounds Or Noises: Books For Kids
Children’s literature has many notable options when it comes to sounds or noises. To help you find the right books for you and your young reader, we’ve compiled a list of the best kids books about sounds or noises.
Our list includes board books and picture books. Board books are best for babies and toddlers from ages newborn to 2 or 3. Picture books are generally great options for toddlers and for preschool and kindergarten age children. Picture books are especially enjoyable for adults to read aloud with young kids. You can filter to sort by the best book type for your kid.
When it comes to children’s stories about sounds or noises, there are a variety of titles. This list covers everything, from classics like The Very Quiet Cricket to popular sellers like The Loud Book! to some of our favorite hidden gems like Oliver’s Tree.
We hope this list of kids books about sounds or noises can be a helpful resource for parents, teachers, and others searching for a new book! As you explore the list, please comment below to let us know what books you would add.
With the help of hugs and lullabies, a young girl tucks her stuffed animals into bed, one by one, in this cuddly good-night read. Holly Clifton-Brown’s soft palette and adorable illustrations paired with Mij Kelly’s comforting rhyming text set the perfect tone for bedtime.
From E.B. White Read Aloud honor artist Matthew Forsythe comes a picture book about a tiny drum, an emerald forest, and a frog who dares to make her own music.
The biggest mistake Pokko’s parents ever made was giving her the drum. When Pokko takes the drum deep into the forest it is so quiet, so very quiet that Pokko decides to play. And before she knows it she is joined by a band of animals —first the raccoon, then the rabbit, then the wolf—and soon the entire forest is following her. Will Pokko hear her father’s voice when he calls her home?
Pokko and the Drum is a story about art, persistence, and a family of frogs living in a mushroom.
Get baby ready to go to sleep and say goodnight to all the different animals in this adorable board book! Goodnight, moon, shining bright, sleepy babies kiss night-night! It’s time for baby to go to sleep! Little ones will love saying goodnight to all the baby animals with their animal sounds in this adorable board book, including a fox (Yap Yap), an owl (Whoo-Whoo), a bat (Flap Flap), a mouse (Squeak Squeak), a kitten (Meow Meow), a bear (Grrr Grr), a hedgehog (Snuffle Snuffle), a wolf (Wooh Wooh), and finally, a baby (Shh Shh)!
Moo! Neigh! Oink! Peep! This silly and inventive alphabet board book teaches little ones the ABCs with animal sounds!
We Arf We Buzz We Baaah We Coo
We Chirp and Cluck and cock-a-Doodle-Doo!
Invites readers to make various animal sounds, including those made by pigs, cows, and horses. On board pages.
What's That Noise? Snap! Snap! - “What’s that noise? Lift the flap to find out! Perfect for guessing, prediction and memory skills—and simply joining in!”—Page 4 of cover.
Animal Noises - A brand-new board book that explores animal sounds from morning until night in the bold and vibrantly colorful world of artist Thomas Flintham. The chickens wake from the farm each day, “CLUCK, CLUCK, CLUCK,” the chickens say. At breakfast time, the cows all chew, In the meadow, “MOO, MOO, MOO.” It’s a very noisy day on the farm, until bedtime comes and the farmyard is quiet. With sturdy pages, a simple, engaging story, and graphic bold artwork, this animal sounds book is perfect for little ones.
Elwood Bigfoot - Elwood Bigfoot is big, LOUD . . . and lonely. It’s hard for him to make friends especially with the tiny birdies whose chirps and cheerful songs help him feel less alone. But whenever a hopeful Elwood hollers at a birdie to STAY, the scared creature flies away. Will Elwood “ever” find a way to befriend the birdies?”
Oliver's Tree - A board book about three adorable best friends! Oliver, Charlie, and Lulu love to play outside together. Their favorite game is hide-and-seek, but it’s not fun for Oliver when his friends hide in the trees—he can’t reach them! So the friends set off to find a tree that Oliver can play in. But there’s a reason we don’t see elephants in trees, and just when Oliver is ready to give up the search, Charlie and Lulu surprise him with the perfect tree for them all to play in together!
Some vehicles go VROOM! Some animals say ROAR! Put them both together and find out what’s in store
Imagine a different kind of hybrid on wheels: animalvehicle! The subway-snake slithers for commuters, the cowcars stop to graze in the field, the bear-bus scoots to the den for hibernation. What could be better than a mash-up of two of the best things: animals and things that go vroom!
Harold is an amazing mimic, and can imitate the sound of everything in his home. Tired of repeating the same old noises, he yearns to find out what other voices there are in the big, wide world. But what happens when he suddenly realises that he doesn’t yet have a voice of his own?This fantastic debut by author/illustrator Courtney Dicmas recounts Harold’s hilarious tale. It’s full of colour, humour and invention, and children will love to join in with Harold as he mimics everyday noises.
On a windy Halloween night, as a little boy makes his way home after trick-or-treating, he hears a voice: “Cracklety-clack, bones in a sack. They could be yours—if you look back.” As his heart flip-flops with fear, the boy dashes through woods and fields that seem full of haunting shapes—owls, ghosts, skeletons, and more. The detailed illustrations are packed with visual tricks for children to discover. Are those skeletons or cornstalks? Ghostly hands or tree branches? The playful tone of the text makes this a perfect, not-too-scary read-aloud, with an enjoyable surprise ending.
With an interactive text and bright, playful illustrations, explore what baby animals really mean when they make their adorable baby animal sounds. When a lion says ROAR, does he really mean MORE? When a cow says MOO, does she really mean YOU? How do we know what animals say when they say what they say with their sounds everyday? With an interactive text and bright, playful illustrations, Angela DiTerlizzi and Joey Chou explore what baby animals really mean when they make their adorable baby animal sounds.
This frighteningly funny collection of Halloween poems is perfect for sharing! It’s that time of year again… The wind is howling, the leaves are blowing. A sliver of moon is barely showing. And the happy haunters are ready for a monstrous good time! In this collection of fifteen sweet, silly, and seriously fun rhyming poems, young readers will meet hungry ghouls, sneaky ghosts, and frisky skeletons, all who love partying in the moonlight. It’s a Halloween spook-tacular like no other!
Hello Lamb - Get baby ready to wake up and say hello to all the different animals in this adorable board book! Hello, Sun. Hello, Day. Wake up, babies, Time to play! It’s time for baby to wake up! Little ones will love greeting all the baby animals with their animal sounds in this adorable board book, including a chick (Cheep Cheep), a piglet (Oink Oink), a puppy (Woof Woof), a frog (Croak Croak), a calf (Moo Moo), a bunny (Twitch Twitch), a lamb (Baa Baa), a bee (Buzz Buzz), and finally, a baby (Goo Goo)!
Can You Say It, Too? Tweet! Tweet! - Lift the flaps to reveal the animal and learn its noise in this fun and interactive series. Children will love spotting the bird, lifting the flap to reveal the complete creature, and then making its noise in this latest book in the Can You Say It, Too? series. Sturdy flaps and simple text combine with friendly artwork to make a fantastic first book that is great for sharing with children who are just starting to talk.
Squeak! - Who knew that one little noise could set off a whole cacophony? In this chain-reaction story, the animal world wakes up with a squeak! Early one morning, a gentle breeze tickles the ear of a small mouse, and he wakes up with a squeak! That squeak wakes up the some chipmunks, who rattle tree branches and knock pinecones into the river. Those pinecones wake the trout, who splash around and wake up an elk on the riverbank. And so goes the story of Squeak!, a chain-reaction story set in a beautiful, rolling landscape with animals who are all woken up one by one with the rising of the sun. With lush and vivid art, and plenty of fun animal noises on each page, this story is a perfect read-aloud to wake up to–or to read any time of day.
The Loud Book! - From the blare of an alarm clock in the morning to snores and crickets in the evening, simple text explores the many loud noises one might hear during the course of a day.
Two small bunnies face their fears while trick-or-treating on Halloween night. On board pages.
Introduce little ones to animal noises in this bold and graphic board book by illustrator and textile designer Jane Foster. In this beautiful and sophisticated board book, children will be introduced to bold images of animals and the noises they make, such as hooting owls, mooing cows, buzzing bees, splashing whales, and more!
One day a tiny cricket is born and meets a big cricket who chirps his welcome. The tiny cricket tries to respond, but there is no sound. The quiet cricket then makes his way into the world, meeting one insect after another, each of whom greets the little cricket with a cheery hello–the hum of a bee, the whirr of a dragonfly, the whisper of a praying mantis. The cricket rubs his wings together each time, but nothing happens, not a sound. Until the day he meets another cricket, a female, and something different happens . . .
As children turn the page on this wonderful moment, they are greeted with a surprise–an actual chirp!
Full of Eric Carle’s gorgeous and lush collage art, a gentle rhythmic text for read-alouds, and a wonder-inducing surprise at the end, The Very Quiet Cricket remains an all-time favorite from one of the true masters of picture-book making.
As children turn the page on this wonderful moment, they are greeted with a surprise–an actual chirp!
Full of Eric Carle’s gorgeous and lush collage art, a gentle rhythmic text for read-alouds, and a wonder-inducing surprise at the end, The Very Quiet Cricket remains an all-time favorite from one of the true masters of picture-book making.
In this interactive novelty board book, little ones discover and react to the animals hidden behind a shaped flap on every spread. What should you do if you see a cow? Moo! Young readers will love following the instructions to make animal sounds and discovering which farm animal is hiding behind the flaps.
“Simon Says” is a series of fun mirror books for little ones.
Fold-out mirrors allow children to read the book while they copy all of the funny faces inside. Simple instructions guide parents and children through the book, and encourage them to join in the mirror fun. Fun illustrations will delight children and help them to match the silly faces and noises.
Duck, Duck, Dinosaur and the Noise at Night - Feather, Flap, and Spike are spending their first night in their very own nest. They tell stories and snuggle up to get a good night’s sleep, until . . . GRRORE! What’s that scary-sounding noise? Young readers will find both humor and comfort in this cozy bedtime story, perfect for anybody who’s ever been nervous about a mysterious noise at night.
Boom! Bellow! Bleat! - This playful collection of poems—peppered with an astounding variety of animal sounds—is meant to be read aloud together. These poems for two or more voices explore the myriad sounds animals make—from a frog’s jug-o-rum to a fish’s boom! to an elephant’s bark. Laced with humor, the poems are a delight to read aloud and cover all major classes of animals: mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects, even a crustacean! Readers will learn how to estimate the temperature by counting a cricket’s chirps and see how creatures make sounds at specific pitches and frequencies, so that they can be heard despite other noise around them. Extensive end notes provide more information on the animals and how and why they make the sounds they do. Written by noted children’s poet Georgia Heard, this is an ideal collection for parents and children to share, or for a fun, interactive classroom read-aloud.
Sounds - Touch, listen, and learn. The latest addition to the Montessori –inspired Discovery Concepts series, joins the band to learn the sounds a variety of instruments make. From the “OOMPAH” of a tuba to the “CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!” of cymbals, little ones will love reciting each sound. Tactile sandpaper musical notes illustrate each instrument’s output while creative words encourage kids to make the sounds for themselves. Innovative back matter includes a QR code on the final spread of the book, which when scanned on a smartphone, features a marching band playing all of the instruments featured in the book.
We All Go Traveling by - A group of children use various modes of transportation to get to school, beginning with the familiar and friendly yellow school bus that goes “beep-beep-beep” and continuing on to introduce other colorful and noisy vehicles.
As thunder and lightning approach, a family gathers inside to play, sing, eat, and snuggle together until the weather clears. This sweet story captures both the excitement of a thunderstorm and the reassurance children need during a storm. The lively, rhythmic text mimics the storm sounds while the bold, playful art conveys this special family time.
Did you enjoy our children's book recommendations? Did we miss one of your favorites? Let us know in the comments below!