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Loud Drum, Quiet Mouse
First wordsAnimalsBedtimeAges 3–5

Loud Drum, Quiet Mouse

by ReadRead · 90 sec

Boom, boom, the drum is loud! Shh, the baby owl sleeps. A first book with one short sentence per page, where every sound pops out of the page.

10pop-up spreads
31things to tap
2new words
Words in this book
loudquietbabybellboomdrumhornmonkey
Peek inside

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Inside the book

Boom, boom! Monkey’s drum is loud. Tap, tap. Little Mouse is quiet. Toot goes the horn, ting goes the bell. But shh, a baby owl is asleep in its nest, and the loud drum wakes it up. Mouse says shh, Monkey pats the drum quietly, and the owl goes back to sleep. And at night? Now the owl is the loud one: “Hoo, hoo!”

Monkey bangs his red drum and Mouse covers its ears, in Loud Drum, Quiet Mouse.
Monkey bangs his red drum and Mouse covers its ears, in Loud Drum, Quiet Mouse.
Too loud! The drum wakes the baby owl.
Too loud! The drum wakes the baby owl.
Tap the instruments: loud on one side, quiet on the other.
Tap the instruments: loud on one side, quiet on the other.
At night Monkey and Mouse sleep, and the owl says “Hoo, hoo!”
At night Monkey and Mouse sleep, and the owl says “Hoo, hoo!”

The two new words

loud

A big sound that you hear from far away. It comes up 7 times, and every time a yellow burst pops, big notes fly out, the page shakes and Mouse covers its ears.

quiet

A very small, soft sound, or no sound at all. It comes up 7 times, and every time one tiny lavender note floats up slowly and everything goes still.

Made for children just starting kindergarten: one sentence per page, three to six words. One sentence comes back again and again and only one word changes: “Boom, boom, the drum is loud!”, “Tap, tap, the mouse is quiet.”, “Toot, toot, the horn is loud!”, “Ting, ting, the bell is quiet.” Every other word is one a four-year-old already knows: drum, bell, horn, mouse, monkey, owl, baby.

Questions to ask while you read

Pause after each spread and ask one question. There are no right answers; the point is to get your child talking.

  1. 1Can you say “boom, boom” as loud as the drum?
  2. 2Can you tiptoe as quietly as the mouse?
  3. 3Is the horn loud or quiet? Why does Mouse cover its ears?
  4. 4Ting, ting. Can you say it in a tiny voice?
  5. 5Who is sleeping? How do we talk when a baby sleeps?
  6. 6Oh no! What woke the baby owl?
  7. 7Put a finger on your lips with Mouse: shh!
  8. 8Can you pat the table quietly, like Monkey pats the drum?
  9. 9Tap a drum or a bell: is it loud or quiet?
  10. 10Why is the owl awake at night? What does it say?

Tips for parents

  • First time: use Read to me and just enjoy the sounds. The whole book takes about a minute and a half.
  • Play along with your voice: say every loud word LOUD and every quiet word in a whisper.
  • Before page 6, ask “What will happen if the drum is loud?” and let your child guess.
  • Play it for real: bang a pot loudly, then tap it quietly with one finger, and say the word each time: “Loud! Quiet!”
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