I Hear

by Helen Oxenbury

Helen Oxenbury's brilliant board books have delighted a generation of babies. Now from the most widely loved of artists comes a reissue of a board book to help very young children explore their worlds. In I Hear, a baby listens to a bird sing, a dog bark, and a watch tick. Full of character and humor, this charming book forms a winsome introduction to the senses.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

10 pages, Board Book

First published March 12, 1986

About the author

Married to John Burningham

Born in 1938 and growing up in Ipswich, England, Helen Oxenbury loved nothing more than drawing. As a teenager, she entered art school and basked in the pleasure of drawing, and nothing but drawing, all day. During vacations she helped out at the Ipswich Repertory Theatre workshop, mixing paints for set designers. It was there that she decided her future lay in theater design.

While studying costume design, however, Helen Oxenbury was told by a teacher, "This is hopeless, you know. You ought to go and do illustrations--you're much more interested in the character, and we don't know who's going to play the part!"


But sets and scenery, not books, remained Helen Oxenbury's preoccupation for several more years as she embarked on careers in theater, film, and TV. After marrying John Burningham, another of the world's most eminent children's book illustrators, and giving birth to their first child, at last she turned to illustrating children's books. "When I had babies," Helen Oxenbury says, "I wanted to be home with them and look for something to do there."


Today, Helen Oxenbury is among the most popular and critically acclaimed illustrators of her time. Her numerous books for children include the Greenaway Medal-winning ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND and its companion, ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, both by Lewis Carroll; Smarties Book Prize-winning FARMER DUCK by Martin Waddell; SO MUCH by Trish Cooke; as well as her classic board books for babies. More recently, she collaborated with author Phyllis Root on the jubilant, no-nonsense tall tale BIG MOMMA MAKES THE WORLD. "As I read Phyllis's text, I imagined Big Momma as part Buddha, part housewife," she says. "It was intimidating to create a whole world, but very enjoyable."


And what does she love most about her work? Thinking up new ideas? Seeing the finished book? Not at all. For Helen, "The best part is when I think I know what I'm doing and I've completed a few drawings. In fact, when I get about a third of the way through, and I feel I'm on my way, then I'm happy. It's like reading a good book--you don't want it to end."


Helen Oxenbury and her husband make their home in London, where the illustrator works in a nearby studio. She is also an avid tennis player.

Reviews

[kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

super simple but solid

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series of books by Helen Oxenbury is really good. Every page is 1 concept, with a beautiful and gentle illustration. The final page of "I Hear" is the word "baby" and it has a crying baby being comforted by a slightly older baby.

I love this as a baby psy-op; your baby will at first identify with the crying baby, but then hopefully they'll start to identify with the older baby who is comforting the crying baby. And they will hopefully learn a deep truth: Inside you are two babies. These two babies precisely.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

In clear illustrations and singe words a toddler hears a bird, falling rain, a barking dog, a ticking watch, the sounds coming from a dial telephone, and a baby’s cry, in this first English language vocabulary builder. Twenty-first century toddlers may need some explanation of what a dial telephone is and what telephones look like now. Nevertheless, this is a charming little book.

[Tara Dryml]

This book is a good children's book because it entails different things children could hear such as rain or the phone. (Easy to Read)

[SBC · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 11 month old and I both really enjoyed this one. He loved hearing me make the noises that the baby could hear. Sweet illustrations. Simple concept that appealed.

[River · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hearing the watch ticking and the rotary telephone ringing are the sounds of the 20th century calling.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rose loves the bird on the first page. Not sure how to explain the ticking watch or the rotary phone to them!

[wildct2003 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok book

[Savannah Spaulding]

This is another story by Helen Oxenbury that is also a board book. My favorite thing about this make of book is that it is specifically designed for children. The bright colors and simplistic drawings are enticing to them, the pages are big and thick making it easy for them to hold and turn pages, and the limited amount of words used makes it easy for the reader to really help the child focus on making a connection between the word and the picture without having to weed through all of the other fluff. This story is essentially a list of things that children may hear, such as a dog barking, a bird chirping, and a watch ticking. I think that this sense may be one of the most important for children to learn because sounds can be very confusing to children, especially if they do not know what the source of the sound is. In that case, it could be a frightening situation for a young child. This book enables a parent to give some context to certain sounds and allow the child to make their own connections as they read and interact with the book.

[Margaret Chind]

Reprinted and/or excerpt included in The 20th-Century Children's Book Treasury: Picture Books and Stories to Read Aloud.

[Gail · Rating 2 out of 5]

good for a baby

[babyhippoface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good little board book for sharing with babies and toddlers. I'd use this with PreK, reading it then listing or having them draw other things they hear.

[Nichole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for toddlers and preschoolers.