Eek!: A Noisy Journey from A to Z

by Julie Larios, Julie Paschkis (Illustrator)

A boisterous trip through the alphabet--letter by letter and sound by noisy sound!

This story begins quietly as Mouse selects a flower for someone very dear to him. Then the fun begins! To complete his journey, Mouse must make his way through the alphabet. One sniff of his special flower--Achoo!--and a bee flies out--Bzzz! Readers will love meeting the colorful parade of characters along Mouse's trek and will cheer when he reaches his destination and presents the flower to... Well, that part of the story is a surprise!

Author Julie Larios and illustrator Julie Paschkis have collaborated to create an entertaining combination of clever text and lively art. With its fun--and onomatopoeic--sounds, and its parade of colorful characters, this distinctive picture book will delight young fans and inspire them to create imaginary alphabet adventures of their own.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Fiction, Humor, Language, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2020

Reviews

[High Plains Library District · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would be a great addition to a young child's book library or a preschool library. It's a great book for teaching letter recognition and letter pronunciation. The kids could also practice tracing the large print letters with their fingers to start learning how to write. This book is such a great teaching tool!

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 5 out of 5]

The beauty of a story told through an alphabet of onomatopoeia. Delightful. Surprising. Fun.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ordinarily, I tend to think the world of children's books is over-saturated with alphabet books, but after reading Eek! I am all for making room for one more. This book features onomatopoeia, listing one noise word for each letter. Fanciful illustrations portray the circumstances that elicit each sound from the mouse main character and other animals he encounters. Solid color backgrounds make each spread eye-popping and engaging, and the floating, dreamlike quality of the figures leads to a sense of joy and whimsy. While I doubt this book alone would be enough to teach a child the alphabet, it's a great supplement to those lessons and an absolutely ideal story time title for toddlers as well.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my full review here: https://www.yabookscentral.com/kidsfi...

EEK! is a clever alphabet book that travels through the letters with sounds, such as Achoo! for A and Bzzz for B. The pictures also loosely tell a story of a mouse throughout the day and the many other animals he/she encounters - all the way to the Zzzz of sleep. The illustrations are full of bright colors with patterned clothing on the animals and bright colors across the backgrounds of each page. The animals provide lots of fun for little ones to view as the pages turn quickly.

What I loved: The illustrations are really lovely and full of bright colors. I like that there is a story that children can narrate through the images. Although the pages only present the alphabet of sounds, there is definitely a thematic element of the illustrations that tell some interesting stories. The many details also make this a fun book to visually explore. The sounds are a clever twist on the traditional alphabet book, and this spin is really fun with lots of cool sounds to make throughout.

The font is nice and clear with bold letters in addition to the noise word, making it easy to read aloud and for young readers to identify each letter.

Final verdict: A triumphant and exuberant exploration of sound, EEK! is a delightful journey through the alphabet accompanied by brightly colored and charming illustrations.

Please note that I received a review copy. All opinions are my own.

[Jim Erekson · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I shelved this as a picturebook AND a wordless book because the narrative is told entirely without words. Each of the ABC words is a sound effect, an onomatopoeia! So, wordless but with a little 1-word easter egg on each spread. Super surprising choices of words for these single words - not the typical ones you'd predict. Complementary relationship between pictures and words means that each mode does its own thing, but each helps the other out a bit.

Julie Paschkis's gouache and ink paintings are brilliant, and the style feels perfectly unique - not borrowing much from popular illustrators. Very much its own book.

[Shelby Barnicle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Julie Larios's book, Eek! A Noisy Journey from A to Z, follows the journey of a mouse and all the events he encounters on his way. The only words in this book are sounds that accompany the characters and events he encounters on his journey but they appear in alphabetical order. The first sound starting with A is the mouse sneezing "Achoo" followed by a bee "Buzz"ing, a bird "Chirp"ing and so forth. The book's illustrations are colorful and would attract a child's eye with the beautiful illustrations on each page. This book would be great to go with a lesson teaching the alphabet. The book doesn't have much to follow in terms of a definitive story line but it is good for its purpose of being an alphabet picture book and would appeal to children. I also think that the animals and other characters in the book would be of great interest to the children.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cleverly-written and -illustrated picture book will have plenty of child appeal. Created with India ink and gouache, the illustrations are clean, crisp, and large, and readers will enjoy watching a mouse plucking a flower, sneezing, and then having quite an adventure as he moves through the letters of the alphabet. Although it can be challenging to discern the connections from page to page, the word "exuberant" is one that comes to mind to describe how to depict this ABC book. Plot, be damned; young readers will love saying the words on each page and paying attention to the plentiful action that the mouse sees or starts and the chain of events.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't believe anyone should miss a book by Julie Larios and illustrated by Julie Paschkis! When I first read this, I imagined young children loving the story of this little mouse and all his adventures, lots of sounds and funny pictures, and an easy-to-follow story to READ ALOUD! Julie L. includes 26 onomatopoeic sounds with delightful, happy, and amusing art by Julie P. As a mentor text, one can teach poetry and the lilt that is brought to life when onomatopoeia is used, plot from the simple story with a glide up and down to that grand finale, tension when the mouse is in danger. There is emotion and quite a few surprises. Eek! It is a bunch of fun and so much more.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a clever and visual delight - a journey through the alphabet through onomatopoeia. A little mouse picks a flower, achoo, and out flies a bee. Bee and mouse travel through the alphabet and each page turn provides a surprise. Where is the mouse going and who is the flower for?

Julie Paschkis's bright folk-art illustrations are set against vividly toned backgrounds and full of wonderful details. An absolute pleasure to read aloud, this is both a wonderful lap book and well-suited for a story time.

Here's another must have for alphabet book collections!

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's rue that each letter of the alphabet is displayed, in order, along with a word beginning with that letter. Any similarity to a conventional alphabet book ends there. The "words" are wildly onomatopoetic, the successive double spread illustrations are increasingly complex and layered, and readers of many ages are visually challenged to discover a variety of story possibilities and character relationships.
This is also a delightful mentor text and resource for those writing expressive onomatopoetic words effectively.

[Erin Buhr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love playful ABC books that are great to read aloud and this is definitely one that fits that description. Each letter is given a sound, often an energetic one. The illustrations are full of activity and cute animals. I wish there was a teensy bit more of an attempt to tell a story with the sounds but that is my only complaint. Kids will love making noises or hearing their adult read them and following the little mouse across the pages. A romping alphabet book for little ones.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trekking through the alphabet with a noisy mouse as your guide?

Weird though this would be in real life, for a picture book? Let's face it, nothing especially strange.

Your imagination will fill in the story, between the excellent pictures by Julie Paschkis and the clever concepts and sounds chosen by Julie Larios.

Such a joyful tour through life... and through sounds. A FIVE STAR Special!

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this alphabet book. The artwork was delightfully whimsical yet nicely detailed with lots of little things going on for young readers to be enthralled with as someone reads the words. The representatives for the letters of the alphabet are sounds and some very uniquely chosen which is wonderful and original. The noises makes for a fun read aloud situation. This is a great book

[Abby Johnson]

This super cute alphabet book gives an onomatopoeia word for every letter of the alphabet, following a community of animals doing silly things. I love the silly little details in the illustrations - children are sure to notice and laugh along. This is an adorable book to introduce the concept of onomatopoeia or just to read at a noisy storytime. Well done.

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute alphabet book where each letter is a sound/onomatopoeia. The illustrations have a charming classic feel to them with animals in clothes with charming designs. I don't know how this would fly in a group setting for storytime, but I'm sure could be used in a pinch if we were doing a "sounds" theme or something like that.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's something almost zen about traversing a narrative landscape using only sounds, following the structure of the alphabet. The narrative tends towards abstraction, of course, given the parameters it must follow, but Larios's art is fun and joyful and colorful so that it all seems totally normal.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very different alphabet book in that it focuses on sounds. It makes for a fun read-aloud and can get kids acting out the various noises. The illustrations are colorful and there is an underlying story without words beyond the "A achoo", "B bzzz", etc. Thank you to Peachtree Publishing Company for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute! This is a book made for storytimes. Plenty of sound effects and onomatopoeia and audience participation potential, but still very simple text for early readers (just the letter and the sound). A definite story following Mouse, though, as he encounters all the different letter sounds through the book. And I loved all the patterns and textures in the pictures.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read at least 1 million alphabet books over raising kids and grandkids. This is one of the best picture books that explores the alphabet I’ve ever seen. I think it’ll be fun to read every single time and I think little kids will totally enjoy this. I usually only check out books from the library but I bought this one and I’m really glad I did.

[Mother Goose Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn’t your ordinary alphabet book! A little mouse begins the story, told in an alphabetical format only through onomatopoeia, beginning with an “achoo,”. Follow mouse and other animals on this fun filled journey! This is a picture book that may, upon first glance, seem simplistic but once you begin reading, you’ll discover it’s so much more! Share with readers of all ages.

[Mother Goose Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn’t your ordinary alphabet book! A little mouse begins the story, told in an alphabetical format only through onomatopoeia, beginning with an “achoo,”. Follow mouse and other animals on this fun filled journey! This is a picture book that may, upon first glance, seem simplistic but once you begin reading, you’ll discover it’s so much more! Share with readers of all ages.

[Nichole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an arc of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Great onomatopoeia alphabet book. The illustrations are fun and kids are going to enjoy it. I definitely need to get a copy for my elementary teachers who teach onomatopoeia.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This fun take on an alphabet book with noises beginning with each letter in the order of the alphabet begs to be read out loud! Illustrations are colorful and just as fun as the sounds. Preschoolers will love this one!

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great use of onomatopoeia in this clever, lively romp though the alphabet. Delightful ink and gouache illustrations by Julie Paschkis.

[Jodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun book to share with readers.

[Y.Poston]

fun alphabet sound adventure

[Ellon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute unique. I could see it being very fun to read aloud with all of the noise words.

[Erin]

So much onomatopoeia... except for x.

Otherwise, I loved the somewhat old-fashioned style of the illustrations, and the almost-wordless story. Would be a delight to share with a small group.

[Kirsti Call · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever story of onomatopoeia.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars for this vibrant abc book