Noah’s Noisy Zoo is a fun sensory experience for toddlers.  It isn’t exactly a literary masterpiece or something — there really isn’t any plot.  But it has a fun use of rhyme (and opportunities for making animal sounds!).  It also has some fabulously vivid illustrations.

The illustrations are in a modern style.  The colors are very bold and bright.  My photo doesn’t do them justice.

The board book is exceptionally sturdy — always a benefit when reading to toddlers!  The “fit-together” part refers to the way the illustrations are done.  Each pair of facing pages has one page with cut-outs and another with the animals raised up off the surface.  (One is an “innie” and one is an “outie.”)  They are arranged in such a way that the one nests inside the other when the book is closed.

I also appreciate that the book is short, because when my children are board book age, their attention spans don’t last any longer than that!

The only thing I’m disappointed by is that it uses the same old inaccurate imagery of the ark as some tub that would never be seaworthy.  I usually avoid books about Noah’s ark for this reason.  However, given the modern styling of this book, I can overlook it as stylized.

Besides reading the book, you can have your child point out colors, patterns, or specific animals in the pictures.  Find the circles or triangles.  (There isn’t much by way of rectangles.)  Make the sounds the animals make.

Have fun!