by Linda Sue Park
illustrated by Diane Bigda
Charlesbridge, September 2004
Language: English
paperback: 978-0547076713
36 pages, ages 2-7
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Mung Mung: a Fold-out Book of Animal Sounds
In this enchanting peek-a-boo book from Newbery Medal winner Linda Sue Park, babies can imitate animal sounds in 19 languages. What kind of animal says GAV-GAV in Russian, Bo-Bo in Hindi, and WOW-WOW in Spanish? Make a guess, then lift the flap.
Reviews
“What kind of animal says ‘Mung-Mung, BoBo, Gav-Gav, Wow-Wow,’ or ‘Woof-Woof?’ Fold out the page to find it's a dog. Successive gatefolds hide farm or household animals, but the onomatopoeic words from their mouths come from languages as diverse as Korean, Turkish, Swedish, and Hindi … Bidga’s lightly lined, pastel illustrations are beautiful and surprisingly lively, full of interesting type faces for each of the words and accompanied by tiny, but clear labels for the language of each. Not all toddlers will grasp the concept of different languages, but all will enjoy guessing what animal comes next. And it'll have them nuff-nuffing all the way home.”
“A multilingual guessing game for the youngest children. Each spread begins with the question, ‘What kind of animal says...’ and features a variety of sounds in playful handwritten typefaces. Opening a flap reveals the answer. Several languages from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East are included, as well as the sound in English to tip off youngsters. Bigda's cotton-candy-colored gouache artwork displays a lightness of line and a jazzy, free-form feel that blends well with the simple fare. The pages of onomatopoeic sounds are bright and artful (at least to someone able to read them) but young audiences may wiggle impatiently to open the flaps.”