The Indoor Noisy Book

Noisy Books

by Margaret Wise Brown

A little dog who has a cold stays indoors all day and listens to the sounds of housecleaning, meals being eaten, and the wind and rain beating on the window pane

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Dogs, Storytime, Animals

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 21, 1942

About the author

Margaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of books and stories during her life, but she is best known for Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. Even though she died nearly 70 years ago, her books still sell very well.

Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading.

She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them.

She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper.

Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muffin has a cold (even though he is a dog) so stays at home for the day and listens to the noises around the house. The illustrations are lovely, such a great style, typical of the era and I loved the colour scheme of mustard, red and blue. I really enjoyed this story and made me think about all the noises around me. A lovely book for children.

Read on open library.

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Albeit I have found many if not actually most of the generally indoor sounds which little dog Muffin is textually shown as hearing in Margaret Wise Brown's 1942 picture book The Indoor Noisy Book whilst he must stay inside and in his bed resting because he is ill with a bad cold delightfully onomatopoeic (and probably even more engaging and fun if children are having The Indoor Noisy Book read aloud to them and the reader actively imitates the sounds author Margaret Wise Brown presents for the broom sweeping, the telephone ringing, the bath being drawn etc. and of course listening or reading children also being asked to guess whether Muffin can for example hear raw celery and carrots being eaten at lunch or the sound of a pin dropping), the final part of The Indoor Noisy Book with that series of often rather absurd guesses as to who or what is slowly and quietly climbing up the stairs to Muffin’s room, personally I do tend to find this entire scenario at best rather annoyingly silly. For yes, even if I had encountered The Indoor Noisy Book as a young child, I would most likely have found Margaret Wise Brown presenting such strange guesses as a clown, an elephant, a soldier and a sailor before finally pointing out that it is actually the family cat paying Muffin a visit rather ridiculous and not making much if any common sense with regard to the sounds an elephant or a clown's footsteps would be making compared to those of a cat.

However, my above mentioned and explained issues with the final section of the Indoor Noisy Book notwithstanding, and even though I also do tend to find that the manner in which illustrator Lenoard Weisgard has visually rendered Muffin's family just a bit too 19th and early 20th century British gentry like and not really all that much mid 20th century America in look and feel (as I indeed do see the Noisy Books as American and Muffin and his family equally so), I would still actively consider recommending The Indoor Noisy Book even with my three star rating. Because for one, my issues with the rather weird footstep guesses are probably rather a personal quibble anyhow, and that yes indeed, most of Margaret Wise Brown's text in The Indoor Noisy Book is certainly fun and likely very much engaging as a read aloud, and for two, even though I personally have found how Leonard Weisgard has drawn Muffin's family in The Indoor Noisy Book as kind of too British appearing for my personal and aesthetic tastes, Weisgard's accompanying artwork is most definitely bright and descriptive and as such also a delightful and visually stimulating mirror and complement to and for Margaret Wise Brown's fun and delightfully engaging printed words.

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going to bring this for my quiet/loud storytime, but it would have also worked for my yes/no and my interactive books storytimes!

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 3 out of 5]

The little dog from the other Wise Brown's other "Noisy Books" stays in his room all day with a cold, and hears all the noises going on around him. At the end of the book, everyone in the family comes upstairs to check on him. The dated illustrations may discourage some adult readers and may not play well with some children... but the repetitive noise dialog (especially with the occasionally "could he really hear that" for things like snow falling), and the "here come feet up the stairs, who was it" question and answer repetition would be excellent for young children who are just learning about predicting what comes next in a book and chiming in. I'd suggest for ages 2-3.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a fan. There are so many better sound books out there. The art is a little creepy, too...

[Leticia · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for the most precious midcentury illustrations. Love the colors and I wish this were still in print so I could buy a copy to frame some of the artwork in Violet's room.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved these books as a child, and now that I am a grandma . . .

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather vintage looking book written by Margaret Wise Brown. I wasn’t familiar with this one. I loved the basic approach and the repetition. 4 stars!

[Jaimee Huskins · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Indoor Noisy Book was written 1942. Due to when the book was written it may not be 100% appropriate for younger children like pg 25 when soldier with a gun or pg 30 a clown with a firecracker. Otherwise the book is great. It ask great interactive questions like "Was it a duck?" or "And someone slammed the front door. How was that? It gives a lot of different noise sounds to a lot of different things. I think there is a lot of was to have children interact with this story. Overall this is a fun and interactive story!

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard. This book has wonderfully bright and bold illustrations but focuses not on what can be seen but rather what can be heard. It will be particularly great for storytime due to the amount of child-participation that's possible. There are both invitations to make sounds and to answer questions. I really really liked it and suspect that I would like the rest of the series as well.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muffin, a dog, is left at home. What sounds would he hear throughout the day? Some of the sounds are given by the author and it's great fun to read them aloud. But, Brown also invites the reader (or listener/s) to come up with their own sounds, which has always been a lot of fun when reading this book to a group.

[Mandy J. Hoffman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Muffin the dog is sick and can't go outside. So instead she is made to stay in side and rest. But I'm not sure how restful her day is when she hears all of these sounds!

While the concept is really cute I think this book is rather long for the audience it fits.

[Maren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quinn's current bed time pick from the library. It's a good book about listening. A thinking book. Plus it has puppies and children and food and cute questions for the child to answer. Great for the toddler set. Illustrations are odd, completely blue, red, and yellow on white.

[Justus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great combination of image and poetry. Margaret wise brown is just a master of child appropriate cadence and matched with the bold stylish illustration it's a great combo!