Noisy Barn!

by Harriet Ziefert, Simms Taback (Illustrator)

A boisterous parade of farm animals on their way to the barn certainly can cause quite a stir. With the cow mooing, the piglet oinking, the duck quacking, the chickens pecking and the cat meowing, it's a wonder they arrive at all. When they all get to the barn, children will clamor to make their own animal noises.

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Animals

14 pages, Board Book

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Harriet Ziefert grew up in North Bergen, New Jersey, where she attended the local schools. She graduated from Smith College, then received a Masters degree in Education from New York University.

For many years, Ziefert was an elementary school teacher. She taught most grades from kindergarten to fifth grade. "I liked it," she said, but she stopped teaching when she had her own sons. When her children were older, Ziefert wanted "a bigger arena" for her work. She went to work at a publishing company, Scholastic in New York City, developing materials for teacher's guides for kindergarten language arts and social studies programs.

"About twelve years ago," says Ziefert in a 1995 interview, "I tried to get a job as an editor, but no one would hire me as a trade editor. So I decided to write my own books." Since then, she has written several hundred books, mostly picture books and easy-to-read books. "I write books very quickly," she says, "in about twelve hours. I rewrite them three times over three days, and then they're done." She writes about twenty books a year.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

So yes and of course, I do indeed realise that Harriet Ziefert’s Noisy Barn! is supposed to be a simple board picture book introduction to a bunch of barnyard animals and their respective sounds (and for very young children, for toddlers from about the age of one to three or four years of age).

But really, while the intended audience, while those same very young children might well appreciate hearing and perhaps also enjoy repeating the onomatopoeic animal sounds shown by Harriet Ziefert (oinking pigs, mooing cows, neighing horses and so on and so on), I also do honestly and strongly think that the latter’s, that Ziefert’s presented text is most definitely much much too ridiculously simplistic and as such totally tedious and therefore also pretty well useless (not all that educational and indeed even rather majorly mistaken at times, because let us face it, some of the included and supposedly all barnyard domesticated animals found in Noisy Barn! are actually and in fact not this, but wild animals, as for example, that presented bird looks and also sounds totally like a typical perching songbird and thus really has no place being part of Harriet Ziefert’s barn and barnyard setting).

Combined with the fact that I have also found Simms Taback’s accompanying artwork not only much too one dimensionally cartoon-like and visually ugly but also with a colour scheme I have found grating and really quite the personal eyesore (and which has also been quite the unpleasant surprise for me, as I usually do tend to consider Simms Taback as an illustrator right up my proverbial aesthetic alley so to speak), yes indeed, Noisy Barn! has really and truly been a total and utter disappointment, and is therefore also not at all to be recommended, as I really and truly cannot stand either Harriet Ziefert’s text or Simms Taback’s pictures.

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of a million "animals and their sounds" books. For kids. It's OK I guess. Ending is kind of abrupt.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun fun fun!

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

An oversized board book where farm animals are making their sounds. The surprise for me with this title was that it is illustrated by Simms Tabeck.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not my top pick but my 17 month old who is not that into books absolutely loves it. He walks around saying Hee Haw after reading it.