Quiet Down, Loud Town!

October 1, 2020
A disgruntled elephant goes on an onomatopoeic walk through the city. "HONK, HONK, HONK! / BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! / 'Quiet down, I'm trying to sleep!' " Traffic sounds shatter the morning's silence. Then, birds won't stop chirping during breakfast. The protagonist, a big, blue elephant, walks through town, with loud noises causing irritation and even problems at every turn. In the park: "RUFF, RUFF, RUFF! / YIP, YIP, YIP! / 'Quiet down, you made me trip!' " At the cafe: "CLANK, CLANK, CLANK! / CLINK, CLINK, CLINK! / 'Quiet down, I spilled my drink!' " The peeved pachyderm can't take it anymore and shouts from the sidewalk: "QUIET DOWN LOUD TOWN!" These words splay out over a double-page spread, just like the elephant's arms and legs as anger erupts. The following spread is entirely wordless; the elephant's got its desired silence, but several passersby aim stink-eyes its way. And, when the elephant gets ready for bed, silence is suddenly not as appealing. After dragging in multiple appliances: "All this noise should do the trick... / SNORE! / SNORE! / SNOOOOORE...." But how will the neighbors feel? Hunt's frenetic angular illustrations match the raucous city and rising frustration all around. The residents are all anthropomorphized animals, walking upright, working community jobs; it makes for a fun hunt to spot them all. This rhythmic romp slyly shows the value of looking through a different perspective. (Picture book. 3-6)

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November 2, 2020
An elephant protagonist refuses to abide the noisiness of his city in this picture book by Heim (Hello, Door). “Quiet down, I’m trying to sleep!” he shouts at the morning traffic outside his window, both the noise level and the elephant’s crankiness evident in the hand-drawn text. It’s not just cars and trucks that get the elephant’s goat: he lambasts birds for chirping and tweeting and grouses about the “PIP, POP, PIP!” of a street vendor’s popcorn popper. But when the populace reluctantly obliges the elephant’s exclamatory imperative to “QUIET DOWN!” he discovers that nothing feels normal until he generates some noise of its own. Heim’s onomatopoeia-fest, coupled with the elephant’s comically dramatic unreasonableness, makes this an irresistible readaloud made even better by Hunt’s (How About a Night Out?) exaggerative mixed-media artwork. With pages densely populated by on-the-go anthropomorphized figures of every species and profession, both readers and the elephant will realize that city dwellers aren’t so much rude as they are high spirited—and living their best lives. Ages 4–7. Author’s agent: Andrea Brown, Andrea Brown Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Arabella Stein, the Bright Agency.

January 1, 2021
Traffic ("honk, honk, honk!") wakes Elephant at 5:30 a.m. Then bird song ("chirp, chirp, chirp!") interrupts breakfast, while barking dogs ("yip, yip, yip!") disturb his morning walk -- and the noise grows from page to page. Elephant blames noises for every personal blunder, from tripping to spilling a drink. When a marching band comes through ("WHAM, BAM, BAM! WHAP, TAP, TAP!"), miserable Elephant declares, "Quiet down, I'm going to snap!" The mixed-media illustrations are busy with vibrant color, visual comedy, and rhyming sound words for listeners to shout -- until Elephant does snap, leading to a quiet, wordless spread full of Elephant's glowering neighbors going now-silently about their early evening. Unfortunately, it turns out that too much quiet also disrupts Elephant's sleep. After hours of tossing and turning, reading, snacking, and counting (the clock slips from 10:00 p.m. to 4:15 a.m.), Elephant turns on the radio, the television, two fans, and the kitchen stand mixer. The cacophony of sounds sends him snoring until all the neighbors arrive to have a word. "Holy cow...what a crowd! I did not know I was so loud. Maybe then, all of you did not mean to be loud too?" Neighborhood peace is restored with free coffee for everyone in the morning -- Elephant's treat -- and the promise of a new day and new understanding.

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2021
Traffic ("honk, honk, honk!") wakes Elephant at 5:30 a.m. Then bird song ("chirp, chirp, chirp!") interrupts breakfast, while barking dogs ("yip, yip, yip!") disturb his morning walk -- and the noise grows from page to page. Elephant blames noises for every personal blunder, from tripping to spilling a drink. When a marching band comes through ("WHAM, BAM, BAM! WHAP, TAP, TAP!"), miserable Elephant declares, "Quiet down, I'm going to snap!" The mixed-media illustrations are busy with vibrant color, visual comedy, and rhyming sound words for listeners to shout -- until Elephant does snap, leading to a quiet, wordless spread full of Elephant's glowering neighbors going now-silently about their early evening. Unfortunately, it turns out that too much quiet also disrupts Elephant's sleep. After hours of tossing and turning, reading, snacking, and counting (the clock slips from 10:00 p.m. to 4:15 a.m.), Elephant turns on the radio, the television, two fans, and the kitchen stand mixer. The cacophony of sounds sends him snoring until all the neighbors arrive to have a word. "Holy cow...what a crowd! I did not know I was so loud. Maybe then, all of you did not mean to be loud too?" Neighborhood peace is restored with free coffee for everyone in the morning -- Elephant's treat -- and the promise of a new day and new understanding. Julie Roach

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)