Roar of a Snore

by Marsha Diane Arnold, Pierre Pratt (Illustrator)

All the Huffles are fast asleep, except for Jack. He heard a noise that rocked the floor. He heard a noise that shook the door. Jack heard . . . a snore! Just who is making this racket? Unable to sleep, Jack and his dog go searching. It must be Mama Gwyn, whose huffs and puffs set her curlers spinning, but when Jack wakes her . . . the snore roars on! And so it goes with Baby Sue, the twins, Papa Ben, even the farm animals. At last the Huffles follow their ears toward a surprising culprit.

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

32 pages, Hardcover

First published July 6, 2005

About the author

Called a “born storyteller” by the media, Marsha Diane Arnold is a picture book author of 21 books, with over one million books sold. Her books have garnered honors from Best First Book to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Smithsonian Notable and won state book awards. Her more recent books include Houghton Mifflin’s WAITING FOR SNOW, illustrated by Renata Liwska, and Roaring Brook Press’ LOST. FOUND., a Junior Library Guild selection which received three starred reviews and was illustrated by Caldecott winner Matthew Cordell. MAY I COME IN?, a book about inclusion and kindness, has just been released from Sleeping Bear Press and four new books are coming, including a bilingual book from Lee & Low, GALÁPAGOS GIRL.

Marsha enjoys sharing her love of story through school visits, manuscript consultations, her Writing Wonderful Character-Driven Picture Books e-course, and especially by reading to her three grandchildren.

Growing up on the Kansas prairies, Marsha lived in Northern California for most of her life. Now she lives with her husband in southwest Florida, near the Caloosahatchee River and her daughter’s family, only a short flight from her son’s family in NYC. Besides creating stories, her favorite activities are scuba diving and snorkeling, hiking, traveling, gardening, and climbing trees.

You may learn more about Marsha, her books, and her world, at www.marshadianearnold.com.

Reviews

[Marsha Arnold]

Well, okay, it's my book. I confess. Why did I rate it a 5? Because the kids have such a grand time reading it with me when I do author presentations at school. Because when I suggest how to write their own ROAR OF A SNORE 2, kids come up with fabulous ideas. Because Dolly Parton chose it twice, count again, TWICE, for her Dolly Parton Imagination Library. I love you Dolly Parton and I love you Huffle family (the snoring family in my book).

[Veronica]

Roar of a Snore is about a snore that first wakes up Jack. Jack then goes to wake up each one of his family members to tell them to stop snoring. However, every time they woke someone up, they could still hear the snoring! It turns out the big, loud snore was coming from a teeny tiny kitten inside the top of the barn.
I was between 3 and 4 stars on this book. I personally was not the intended audience for this book, but I could definitely see the potential this book could have on young children. If I used this as a read-aloud, I think the children would really like it. The illustrations are funny but clear and added to the storyline within the book. The storyline itself has a lot of rhyme and repetition which would help draw students in and become engaged with the reading. Eventually, while reading through the book, I think the kids would be able to fill in some of the words because of the rhyming and connections through the illustrations.

[Rachel]

We have had this for at least 7 years and I keep coming back to it for each kid because of its catchy cadence and fun surprise at the end.

...And it helps clear your sinuses when you try and reenact the snoring on each page.

[Shiloah]

Definitely a goofy one! It was a great read aloud for Dad to do.

[Lasha Ross]

Funny and adorable

[Inger Yoder]

This book is super cute I like it a lot! It has a lot of rhyming words that have a nice rhythm to them when you read the book. It's a funny book that constantly keeps the reader guessing who is person who is snoring so loudly. I liked how the book ends like it begins, with a character wondering where the snoring sound is coming from; you could do great projects with the kids. Finally, I also like the pictures in this book.

[Lydia]

That cat's snore reminds me of my dad.

[Karen]

A loud ROAR OF A SNORE is keeping Jack awake. He prowls through the house trying to find the culprit. It’s not the baby or mama or daddy. With everyone now awake they pursue the sound out to the barn where a tiny kitten is discovered in the hay sleeping and snoring the night away. They decide to welcome the kitten into their family and everyone settles down in the barn to get some rest together. But one farm over the sound carries on.

This is a cute bedtime story told in rhyme. The illustrations are more quirky than cute and add to the mystery and fun in equal measure. Each family member is emitting some sort of slumber sound which removes the stigma of snoring. That makes this a wonderful story for kids who snore or who need help understanding other people who do. Everyone snores sometimes and no one should feel bad about it. It’s nice that the loudest sound comes from the smallest and cutest farm member. If you have a loud sleeper at home you need this book!

[Eric Richardson]

So, this was the first Marsha Diane Arnold children's book I ever read to my children. And honestly, now that we own like 5 of her books I feel like it's actually kind of different from her other books which are more message and plot driven. But this is the book that got me to take notice. I just loved reading this to our kids, and they loved repeated readings, and I DIDN'T GET TIRED of reading it. Which is weird because it has a lot of repetition in it, but it was just fun. I liked to challenge myself to see if I could get through each iteration in a single breath!

[Margaret]

The Huffle family is asleep. All of a sudden Jack hears a noise that rocks the floor. It was a snore. Jack needs to find out who is making this loud sound. Jack goes on a nighttime adventure with his dog to see if he can find the snorer. Finally, after waking everyone in the house all the Huffles find out who is making all the racket! The pictures along with the amazing storyline make this a cute read for any elementary child.

[Angie]

My Review: Munchkin picked this book out at the library because someone in our house snores horribly loud. This is a fun read that has a lot of repetition for the young readers and pre-readers to pick up on. It will also get them laughing with quite a surprise at the end! We really enjoyed it and read it a few times before returning it to the library.

[MeganRuth - Alohamora Open a Book]

Great vocabulary! Could also focus on narrative skills. It's a fun cute story about sleeping at night, and the woes when someone snores. The ending will surprise the readers/audience.

It'd be a fun book, with the story building, to pair with The Napping House. Family Storytime, possibly toddler/preschool storytime.

[Anthony]

All the Huffles are asleep except for Jack Huffle, who is kept awake by the sound of a roar of a snore. Jack proceeds to wake everyone in the house one by one to help him locate that roar of a snore. This rhyming tale is full of humor and suspense as the entire Huffle family, farm animals and all search for what is making that roar of a snore.

[Kaitlyn Elmerick]

Genre: Contemporary Realistic
Grade level: Lower/Intermediate Elementary
Many people and animals snore, and this little boy discovers the loudest snore of all! This book will teach kids that it’s okay to snore in a fun and engaging way!

[S]

An add-on rhyming book about a loud snorer. Surprise! It isn't Jack, or the dog, or the baby or the twins, or Papa, or Mama or the cows, sheep and hens. It is a tagalong kitten in the haystack with a snore-roar of epic proportions.

[Ham]

False advertising! The best part of this book was the cover.
Not only does the art degenerate quickly into a sloppy mess, but the story has got to be the stupidest thing ever printed.
Well, at least that I've read this year. There's a LOT of *$%& out there.

[Alexis Portillo]

This is a book about a family that couldn't sleep because they heard a loud snore! They continued to wake everyone in the house until they found where the loud snore was coming from. Once they found who was snoring so loud, the decided to sleep altogether so the loud snore wouldn't be alone!

[Rachel Hancock]

Roar of a Snore is a story of a boy who wakes up due to someone snoring. This is a wonderfully scaffolded book making it easy for young children to read.

[Kristen Dutkiewicz]

Who is it waking everyone up with their snoring??

[Maddie Petersen]

This book has rhyming in it. Goes through a bunch of characters to see who is snoring in the house. I think children would enjoy the rhythm in the story.

[Caitlyn Kelley]

This is a great story to introduce a poetry unit. Children love the read, especially if you read it quickly. It makes the story even more silly and humourous.

[Lindsay]

Super cute story! My son and I really enjoyed it.

[Betsy Ellor]

This book has great rhythm and a strong rhyme structure making it easy to read out loud and a funny surprise at the end.

[Drew]

This book was a fun book. I didn't really get how the kitten snored that loud because it's just a baby!

[Liz Todd]

So many great sounds in this book--must be read aloud.

[Kelly]

AWESOME!! A deliciously adorable book.

[Rebecca Gomez]

Cute and clever. Very fun to read aloud.

[skcocnaH]

3.5

[Kelsey]

I liked the illustrations well enough, but didn’t really love the answer to the mystery, or that they woke up the baby and all ended up sleeping in the barn.

[Sean Harding]

Arnold Adventure #1
Geezer investigates who is snoring in well ok book, which will be liked by youngsters, although you may need sound effects.