School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-A freckle-faced boy wonders how he should interpret the sounds animals make. "When a cow says MOO,/does she really mean WHO?/When a lion says ROAR,/does he really mean MORE?" The anthropomorphized animals in the full-bleed digital illustrations are shown interacting as a parent and child would. A mother snake kisses her baby, and a father and daughter horse make "snow angels" in a field of hay. A short tongue-twisting musing near the middle of the story helps segue to the loving message the boy communicates to his mom. With bright, vivid colors, endearing animals, and plenty of delightful details, this picture book is sure to find an appreciative audience.-Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, AB, Canada (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
"They say what they say/ in their own silly way,/ when they say what they say/ with their sounds every day." Chou's stylish artwork adds punch to DiTerlizzi's (the Adventure of Meno series) meditation on the real meaning of animal sounds. Chou's wide-eyed creatures live just like humans, using cellphones and raiding the fridge. "When a lion says roar,/ does he really mean more?" wonders DiTerlizzi, as a harassed-looking lion father brings another box of bath toys to his son (he's the one doing the roaring). "When a horse says neigh,/ does she really mean hay?" she asks, for which Chou supplies a spread of two horses dressed in cowboy outfits, making hay angels in the stubble on a sunny field. Deep blues and yellows make the pages glow, and almost every spread highlights a loving parent-child dynamic. DiTerlizzi's jazzy verse translations of animal sounds work well, though she backs away a bit at the end-"What animals say, we really don't know." Chou, on the other hand, gives his imagination free rein. Ages 2-5. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
