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Friday, December 13, 2013

Picture story book - early childhood, 3 years+

Wells, Rosemary, 1998. Noisy Nora. London: Transworld Publishers.

"I'm leaving!” shouted Nora,
“And I'm never coming back!”

Nora is a middle-born mouse, trying to get some attention from her busy parents. Despite the noise she makes and the antics she performs Dad and mum are too preoccupied with her older sister and baby brother to bother with her. So Nora decides to try another way of getting noticed. She announces that she is going to run away. When things become too quiet round the house, the parents’ antennae go up and they go in search of Nora, but to no avail. Finally, Nora makes a noisy come-back, as she returns to the security of her family. This picture book has terrific appeal in its pictures and words. The personification of the mouse family is endearing and more surprising than depicting humans. Illustrations are big and bright and children will love to point out familiar domestic objects in the pictures. 8 to 10 simple words at the bottom of each page help tell the story. The upbeat rhyming sentences make it a pleasure to read and hear. Its universal theme – the need for attention, is easy to identify with, and makes this heart-warming tale a treasure for pre-schoolers as well as older children.

 

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