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Noisy Poems for a Busy Day
Chock-full of playful pocket-sized poems that capture adventures big and small in a child's day, this collection begs to be read aloud from sunup to sundown!
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First published September 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
November 23, 2018
Shel Silverstein this isn't. It says something (probably not good) when you can't read a book like this in one sitting. It's only 40 pages, after all! But something about the poems seemed tedious, and I just didn't enjoy this.
The book is divided up like a book of poems, and each one has a title. But, really, the poems are all part of one larger story about the mundane activities of a child's day. Waking, dressing, eating, burping (oh, lord, the burping), playing, fighting, bathing, sleeping, dreaming... If you're a human being, there's nothing new to see here. And the stupid poems were all the same. There were four lines of rhyming text, and then an interjection of some sort. A few poems in, and I was already getting bored.
The mealtime poems (there are three) are especially annoying. There's so much sloppy slurping and burping that I started to feel a little queasy. But the parent is more concerned about their child's grammar than their lousy manners:
The illustrations are colourful, but they're very one-note, and I didn't feel anything looking at them. I guess if you like the style, they're fine, but they didn't impress me.
Overall, this is a weak book. It doesn't work as a story (it's far too tedious to read the whole thing at once), and the individual poems are so boring that it's not like you'd want to just pick a few favourites and read them aloud. For better kids' poems, check out Shel Silverstein's books, or even Chris Harris's I'm Just No Good at Rhyming.
The book is divided up like a book of poems, and each one has a title. But, really, the poems are all part of one larger story about the mundane activities of a child's day. Waking, dressing, eating, burping (oh, lord, the burping), playing, fighting, bathing, sleeping, dreaming... If you're a human being, there's nothing new to see here. And the stupid poems were all the same. There were four lines of rhyming text, and then an interjection of some sort. A few poems in, and I was already getting bored.
The mealtime poems (there are three) are especially annoying. There's so much sloppy slurping and burping that I started to feel a little queasy. But the parent is more concerned about their child's grammar than their lousy manners:
"Can I help clean up?"
"May I?"
"OK!"
The illustrations are colourful, but they're very one-note, and I didn't feel anything looking at them. I guess if you like the style, they're fine, but they didn't impress me.
Overall, this is a weak book. It doesn't work as a story (it's far too tedious to read the whole thing at once), and the individual poems are so boring that it's not like you'd want to just pick a few favourites and read them aloud. For better kids' poems, check out Shel Silverstein's books, or even Chris Harris's I'm Just No Good at Rhyming.
April 19, 2023
trés cute illustrations, and the day itself sounded lovely. the poems themselves were a bit meh.
August 2, 2015
I'm generally not a poetry fan, but this is not what you'd expect from a poetry book! it's jam packed full of silly little rhymes consisting of the noises made completing ordinary tasks throughout the day. any young child is sure to love the silliness of the noises in each "poem", they even got a giggle out of me!
lots of fun!!
** thankyou to netgalley & the publishers for this copy!
lots of fun!!
** thankyou to netgalley & the publishers for this copy!
December 7, 2023
I found this book on Epic! when looking through a list of anthology poems that can be used at the primary level. I was looking for an anthology of poems for my Youth Literature class. I read this book on Epic! This book won the 2012 Best Bets, Nonfiction, Ontario Library Association award.
This collection of poems is about everyday life for a young child. It follows five children from when they wake up in the morning until they drip off to dreamland at the end of the day. This set of poems is on the silly side and definitely appeals to children for being silly but also for talking about things children do on a daily basis. Some of those things are eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner, brushing your teeth, playing outside, and reading a bedtime story. Each line of the poem has no more than four syllables. In some of the poems, the words rhyme, but in others, they do not. A lot of the poems in this collection also include onomatopoeias.
The illustrations in this story are bright and colorful, which really pulls in young children as the audience. These illustrations are a mix of two-page spreads, a full single-page spread, and illustrations that just take up a small part and have a lot of white space in the back. The illustrations of the children have large heads and small arms and legs, making them even more playful.
This book can be used as a read-aloud for primary-level students during April for poetry month. It can also be used in a first-grade math lesson when talking about telling time to help students distinguish between AM and PM. After reading each poem, the students can talk about whether the activity the children are doing is happening in the AM or the PM.
This collection of poems is about everyday life for a young child. It follows five children from when they wake up in the morning until they drip off to dreamland at the end of the day. This set of poems is on the silly side and definitely appeals to children for being silly but also for talking about things children do on a daily basis. Some of those things are eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner, brushing your teeth, playing outside, and reading a bedtime story. Each line of the poem has no more than four syllables. In some of the poems, the words rhyme, but in others, they do not. A lot of the poems in this collection also include onomatopoeias.
The illustrations in this story are bright and colorful, which really pulls in young children as the audience. These illustrations are a mix of two-page spreads, a full single-page spread, and illustrations that just take up a small part and have a lot of white space in the back. The illustrations of the children have large heads and small arms and legs, making them even more playful.
This book can be used as a read-aloud for primary-level students during April for poetry month. It can also be used in a first-grade math lesson when talking about telling time to help students distinguish between AM and PM. After reading each poem, the students can talk about whether the activity the children are doing is happening in the AM or the PM.
April 24, 2018
I read this to a group of wild kindergartners. They calmed down and actually focused on the words and images. If this isn't proof that Robert Heidbreder, former kindergarten teacher and accomplished poet knows his stuff, I don't know what is.
The collections of poems take us through a day in the life of a very busy little person.
They are an absolute delight to read out loud as you can see from this poem here:
Treetop Climb
Shimmy-jimmy,
clutchy-creep.
Climb up tree,
scary-steep!
Whoa, down there!
Lori Joy Smith's joy filled illustrations are the perfect accompaniment for this collection.
The collections of poems take us through a day in the life of a very busy little person.
They are an absolute delight to read out loud as you can see from this poem here:
Treetop Climb
Shimmy-jimmy,
clutchy-creep.
Climb up tree,
scary-steep!
Whoa, down there!
Lori Joy Smith's joy filled illustrations are the perfect accompaniment for this collection.
January 29, 2020
A Seuss like exploration into the life of children everywhere, with all the knickknack paddywhack's that go with every day. Or should. A sweet poetic journey worth taking!
Four stars
Paddy whack, kids are back!!!
Four stars
Paddy whack, kids are back!!!
April 30, 2020
Noisy Poems for a Busy Day (5/5 rating)
Genre: Poetry
Awards:
Audience: 2nd-6th grade
This book tells the story of adventures, both big and small, in a child’s day.
The author uses lyrical poetry.
The author uses rhythm and rhymes to convey the message of this book.
Genre: Poetry
Awards:
Audience: 2nd-6th grade
This book tells the story of adventures, both big and small, in a child’s day.
The author uses lyrical poetry.
The author uses rhythm and rhymes to convey the message of this book.
October 27, 2019
Cauuuteee
June 15, 2020
Fun poems that children can relate to. I think they would really enjoy this poetry book. It's poems about what children do in a day.
May 13, 2019
Silly fun! I used it in storytime to inspire the kids to tell me about their mornings, the day's plans, and so on. Great for starting conversation, or just making the kids laugh.
September 22, 2025
This is a book of 30 very short enjoyable poems for a busy day in a child’s life. The first poem is “Out Of Bed”; the last one is “A Dream-filled Head”. The 28 poems in between are all the things that happen during the day, such as “On With Clothes”, “DIRTY!”, “Then Play Tag”, “Into Tub”. Cheerful illustrations.
October 4, 2013
This book of poetry for Nursery-Primary readers follows the course of a normal day for a child. Beginning with waking up in the morning until falling to sleep at night, these poems focus on the sounds of a day in the life of a child: the giggling of jiggling into clothes, the thrum of wind, the flop of muddy feet, burps at meals, splishing in the bathtub, and bristling of the toothbrush. The sounds of speech are mostly of the children and are a lesson in manners: excusing yourself after belching, apologizing to a friend, offering to help clean up after dinner. Whenever an adult speaks, it's either "NO!" or "STOP!" or a pleasantry-eliciting "What do you say?" It bothers me that the adults' speech is so negative and that they are essentially completely invisible in the book. Not one adult appears in any of the illustrations. Apparently, upon this busy day of noisy poems, these children appear to be mostly unsupervised. However, I like how the kids spend the majority of their time in outdoor play, in nature, with animals, and I like how children are portrayed as normal; though they use their manners, they need to be reminded to do so, and they do get mad occasionally and get into minor conflict with peers. The illustrations are kidcentric, cartoony, and vibrant. The poems themselves are short, humorous, onomatopoeic, rhythmic, and playful. I would say that, although the silly wordplay might not be totally lost on an early reader like my 6-year-old, it's probably best read as a readaloud to a preschool audience, who is sure to get a giggle out of the relatable activities, the recognizable sounds, and the alliteration and assonance.
December 17, 2023
A lively book of short, silly, poems geared toward preschool through the primary grades (K-2). This beautifully illustrated book follows children through their busy day from hopping out of bed in the morning to their dream filled sleep at night. I am adding this to my favorites because I enjoyed the colorful and playful artwork and the silly nature of each of the poems. I felt that many of them offer the fun possibility to play-act, which I find draws reader further into the experience. It reminds me of the days when my son and I used to act out silly sequences from some of our favorite books and I could easily envision doing this same sort of thing in a classroom.
This book can be used with early readers to help develop phonological awareness through rhyming, as well as serving as a fun introduction to elements poetry for slightly older students. The poems relate to daily life, and involve humorous rhyming sequences such as: "Ala-ka-zee! Ala-ka-zopper! See me be a big grasshopper!"
I found this book of poetry to be thoroughly delightful, and I eagerly anticipate my future classrooms filled with little "grasshoppers" as we learn to listen to and recognize different rhyming sounds or, for older students, as we learn to read aloud with fluency and recognize how poems are composed of different beats, repeated lines, rhymes, alliteration, and so on.
This book can be used with early readers to help develop phonological awareness through rhyming, as well as serving as a fun introduction to elements poetry for slightly older students. The poems relate to daily life, and involve humorous rhyming sequences such as: "Ala-ka-zee! Ala-ka-zopper! See me be a big grasshopper!"
I found this book of poetry to be thoroughly delightful, and I eagerly anticipate my future classrooms filled with little "grasshoppers" as we learn to listen to and recognize different rhyming sounds or, for older students, as we learn to read aloud with fluency and recognize how poems are composed of different beats, repeated lines, rhymes, alliteration, and so on.
January 14, 2013
We have been Robert Heidbreder fans since reading Drumheller Dinosaur Dance, which we loved for its movement-inspiring rhythms.
Noisy Poems for a Busy Day captures that joy of action as well as the wonder of even the most humble of every day actions such as teeth brushing. My favourite poem in the collection, Cloud Watch, is about doing nothing but staring at the sky.
Heidbreder brings us through a typical preschooler's day, from morning to bedtime, stopping at all the fun parts of the day. My children liked the poem Dinner Time best- I'm sure you can see why!
Scrunchy munch-up. /Sloppy slurp. /Swibble down. /Big belch-BURP!/ "What do you say?"/ "Excuse me!"
Lori Joy Smith's mouthless children are adorable and her backgrounds, especially the lovely clouds, bring a perfect sense of whimsy to this book of verse.
Noisy Poems for a Busy Day captures that joy of action as well as the wonder of even the most humble of every day actions such as teeth brushing. My favourite poem in the collection, Cloud Watch, is about doing nothing but staring at the sky.
Heidbreder brings us through a typical preschooler's day, from morning to bedtime, stopping at all the fun parts of the day. My children liked the poem Dinner Time best- I'm sure you can see why!
Scrunchy munch-up. /Sloppy slurp. /Swibble down. /Big belch-BURP!/ "What do you say?"/ "Excuse me!"
Lori Joy Smith's mouthless children are adorable and her backgrounds, especially the lovely clouds, bring a perfect sense of whimsy to this book of verse.
December 10, 2012
The simple joys of a child��s day are captured in happy, onomatopoeic rhymes. The book has 30 fun-filled rhymes complemented by bright, colorful, and playful illustrations. The poems cover activities like waking up, watching clouds, playing tag, and back into bed with everything else in between.
Small children will love these being read-aloud and so will older noisemakers (like my six-and-three-quarters year old daughter who always enjoys reading out loud all the noise and sound words in books). It was amazing to see how every activity can be conveyed in words with sounds :)
Rating: B+
Reading Level: 3 to 6 years
Reread Level: 4/5
Small children will love these being read-aloud and so will older noisemakers (like my six-and-three-quarters year old daughter who always enjoys reading out loud all the noise and sound words in books). It was amazing to see how every activity can be conveyed in words with sounds :)
Rating: B+
Reading Level: 3 to 6 years
Reread Level: 4/5
December 15, 2014
This book is filled with different daily activities that children encounter during the day: eating breakfast, playing in the mud, getting mad, playing tag, going down the slide.....the list goes on and on. The poems are short and full of onomatopoeia, and rhyme.
These poems would be great in an early elementary classroom, specifically first grade, for a choral reading activity. Noisy Poems for a Busy Day would be a great introduction and teaching tool for onomatopoeia. These words make writing more interesting and descriptive because those unique words bring a sound associated with the word. A perfect lesson for a young reader and writer.
These poems would be great in an early elementary classroom, specifically first grade, for a choral reading activity. Noisy Poems for a Busy Day would be a great introduction and teaching tool for onomatopoeia. These words make writing more interesting and descriptive because those unique words bring a sound associated with the word. A perfect lesson for a young reader and writer.
February 24, 2016
Noisy Poems for a Busy Day is a (very cute) collection of poems that goes throughout the day of a child. It starts early in the morning right out of bed, the children getting ready for the day, and all the adventures-big and small-throughout the day. These are easy poems for children to understand and relate to. They flow very nicely from page to page and have a couple cute ways to remind children of their manners and even responsibilities.
December 8, 2012
I got this book free on NetGalley.
This book follows several children through their day, and it has a poem for each activity. It was an OK book of poetry, not bad but I don't think the poems are memorable. Lots of onomatopoeia.
Maybe it just wasn't the right day for me to be reading this. Poetry isn't my strong suit.
This book follows several children through their day, and it has a poem for each activity. It was an OK book of poetry, not bad but I don't think the poems are memorable. Lots of onomatopoeia.
Maybe it just wasn't the right day for me to be reading this. Poetry isn't my strong suit.
November 2, 2013
A collection of simple, short poems that traces a child's busy day. Waking up, climbing trees, playing tag, heading home, eating dinner, and going to bed are all included in the book. The poems are short, include lots of onomatopoeia and have some quick lessons about manners. Great for preschool-aged children.
March 30, 2015
A great book to introduce kids to poetry. The short poems are full of silly noises and sounds and the illustrations are very current (ie. hip!). I especially love that the poems cover an entire day in the life of a child from waking-up to teeth brushing and bed-time.
September 13, 2012
We just didn't get into it.
November 14, 2012
A compendium of onomatopoetic words in short poems about everyday events. Rhythmic, rhyming, rollicking celebration of life.
November 23, 2012
An enjoyable collection of brief, boisterous verse.
December 10, 2012
This was a fun book that followed a group of very energetic kids through their day. Each page or double-page spread featured a brief poem with lots of fun wordplay.
July 21, 2016
I was given an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This book cover is on my Pinterest board and my blog, Michelle Dragalin’s Journey.
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