Jennifer Tarr

Category: Onomatopoeia

Toddler Teaches…THE PENGUIN WHO WAS COLD

If Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn is the rare picture book that captures my under 2 year old’s attention cover-to-cover, Philip Giordano’s The Penguin Who Was Cold is rare in a different way — it’s a book geared toward older picture book readers that S largely flips through, yet excitedly requests again and again (and again).

A standard read of The Penguin Who Was Cold consists of enthusiastically saying the title (“The Penguin Who Was…” “COLD!”), reading the first 3 spreads aloud, then flipping through the next 20 or so pages to briefly look at whatever catches S’s eye. No matter what else happens, we always stop to look at this gorgeous, colorful spread in the middle of the book:

At which point S promptly flips to the end pages and declares the book over (“The End!”).

So how does a book that we barely make a dent in make the “best seller” list?

First, and probably most important, the book hooks S immediately. The first page quickly introduces our adorable main character and an easy to understand problem: Milo is cold.

The next couple of pages are equally clear and concise and move the story forward. (“But Mom and Dad weren’t cold.” “And none of the other penguins were cold.”).

In just 8 words and a beautiful image, we can see just how much of a problem this is for Milo — alone in a sea of sameness.

The book also makes highly effective use of onomatopoeia right at the outset. “Brrr! Brrr!” is a fun, evocative sound that S understands and repeats, getting involved in the story (and Milo’s problem) right away.

By the time the book gets into more complicated language and concepts (and a significantly greater number of words per spread), S is already fully invested in Milo and wants to see him over and over.

Second, the book’s characters are animals, which is a prime subject matter interest for S right now. That they are beautifully rendered certainly does not hurt.

Third, the art is incredible — brightly colored and richly done. I thought I understood how important art was to a picture book before reading to S, but watching just how much S interacts with it has been eye opening.

***

Of potential interest for writers, once the book gets too complex for S, we stop reading text entirely, even in spreads that would otherwise have been S-appropriate in terms of sentence length and word choice. If we stop on those pages, it is just to look at the illustrations.

We rarely read this page aloud, even though it is short and easy to understand. By the time we reach it, S is in “flipping-pages mode” and is no longer as invested in the story proper.

The moral of the story seems to be that for any writers looking to hook a younger toddler (or at least my younger toddler) in a book that is primarily geared for the 3-7 range, putting your most straightforward, engaging material up front is a huge plus.

Do you have any book suggestions that might seem too old at first glance, but which we should check out now? Drop them in the comments!

The Penguin Who Was Cold By the Numbers

Page count: 40 pages plus backmatter

Word count: 532 (not including backmatter)

Average word count per illustration on pages we read aloud: 7.67

Average word count per illustration on pages we do not read aloud: 29.9

October 29, 2025
Toddler Teaches…ITTY-BITTY KITTY-CORN
Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham’s Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn is — pardon the pun — a unicorn: a 40-page, 413-word picture book that my toddler will not only sit through cover-to-cover but request again and again. That’s because it ticks off every box for S’s favorite books:
1. A cute, cuddly main character
2. A subject S loves (here, animals)
3. Onomatopoeia
4. Active, colorful illustrations
5. Active, short, punchy sentences
6. Repetition and word choices that invite interaction from the listener
I’ll take them in turn, though many of these points can easily be combined differently under multiple topic headers. (In short, the reasons this is S’s co-favorite book are self-reinforcing.)

1. A cute, cuddly main character

This one’s pretty self-explanatory. Just look at Kitty:

She’s adorable. And she prances and preens and trots and gambols all the way through the book:

S LOVES these end pages, which open the book showing Kitty’s desire to be a unicorn, and the creation of her iconic horn.

Even when (spoiler alert) Kitty gets sad, she remains utterly adorable. You just want to give her a big hug. S loves to look at all the pictures of Kitty throughout the book, helping to hold S’s attention through the text.

2. Animals

This one’s also pretty self-explanatory. S loves animals, and this is a book with animal characters. I will note that the type of animals in the book was not a selling point; just the mere fact of animal characters was what did it. Prior to reading this book, S was not into kitties, unicorns, geckos, or parakeets, but S left the book a fan of kitties, unicorns, and kitty-corns.

3. Onomatopoeia

Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn uses well-placed, fun onomatopoeia. Kitty “neighs” (a favorite animal sound that immediately endeared the book to S). Her tail goes “poof.” The unicorn goes “clop clop.”

The onomatopoeia is not over the top, but sprinkled in only where it makes sense to move the story along. And S loves to chime in with it.

4. Active, Colorful Illustrations

You can get a sense of this from some of the pictures above, but Kitty is constantly moving. Her expressions and actions change across and down the page.

The fact that the illustrations frequently feature Kitty doing multiple different things on a given page help hold S’s attention — there are lots of varied illustrations that S can look at while I read the corresponding sentences, which makes it much easier to get through longer text blocks (and presumably make it easier for S to understand what the text is conveying when it uses new words).

5. Active, Short, Punchy Sentences

Itty-Bitty Kitty Corn may be on the absolute high end of word count for books S and I read together, but it does not feel long in the slightest. Shannon Hale’s text is phenomenally tight. Sentences are short, punchy, and active (and often tied to individualized illustrations per sentence). There are frequently no more than 2-3 sentences on a page. Those sentences are often no more than 5 words, making them easier for a young reader to follow (and adding to the rhythm of the story). Dramatic pauses are built into the writing, and also to the text layout:

6. Repetition and Interactive Sentences

Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn makes great use of repetition and near repetition, as well as interactive sentences that let S anticipate and join in with me. S especially loves the onomatopoeia and saying “up up up” along with me.

***

TL;DR – this book is adorable, and does so many things right for appealing to multiple age groups. I can easily see it remaining a favorite for a long time.

Some quick stats on Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn:

Page count: 40 pages of what I would consider the “main” book

Word count: 413

Average word count per illustration: 10.86 (or 10.33 if you count standalone pages of text with pretty font as their own illustration)

Average sentence length: 5.9 words per sentence (or 6.16 if you include semicolons and sentences that were broken over multiple pages and illustrations as single sentences)
October 15, 2025
Toddler Teaches…ANIMALS GO VROOM!
It is only fitting that the first deep dive into my toddler’s favorite books is the brilliant Animals Go Vroom! by Abi Cushman. Animals Go Vroom! has been in a two-way tie for S’s favorite book for months, right from the moment S pulled it off a library shelf and was so transfixed we had to make it S’s first library book. Here’s why:
1. Surprising, Interactive Page Turns that Follow a Pattern
2. Active, Interactive Illustrations
3. Combining Two Favorite Subjects (Animals and Transportation)
4. Fun Animal and Transportation Sounds
5. Evocative Word Choices in Short Sentences
Each spread in the book follows the same interactive pattern. The left side of the book contains an animal sound seemingly related to an animal visible through a cut out on the right side of the book. The text invites the reader to guess what is making the sound, and to turn the page to finish the sentence.

A huge thank you to Abi Cushman for providing the high quality book images for use in this blog!

And when you turn the page …

You see that the animal sound wasn’t an animal sound at all, but a transportation sound!

S LOVES this. S loves saying “roar” and all the other fun sounds in the book (“hiss” and “awoooooooooo” are particular favorites). S loves the surprise page turns, and the fact that they follow a predictable pattern, which heightens the suspense and excitement of each page turn. S also loves turning the pages by jamming one hand into the cutouts (a fun textural element!) while I hold my breath and silently thank the publisher for using sturdy paper.

Animals Go Vroom! is also a favorite because it does a lot to keep S’s attention.

Sentences are short, punchy, and active, with juicy word choices and alliteration. The truck doesn’t drive up the road – it rumbles. The unicycle doesn’t roll past the traffic – it teeters. The words aren’t just fun to say – they also sound like their meanings, which combined with the illustrations have added to S’s vocabulary.

Complementing the text, the illustrations are active, bright, and colorful. They also include a lot of background details for us to sink our teeth into and engage with as we read.

S loves to point out the hat on the tiger in both the “hidden” and fully revealed spreads above. In the spread below, S likes to point out the hippo (a favorite animal) and the picnic, bread, and cheese.

The images in the story also build off each other, with whole stories happening in the illustrations. It’s both world building and word building. On each page, S and I can discuss everything that is going on beyond the text on the page. The detail in the illustrations also offers a lot of new, easy, and exciting words to learn and/or practice. In the unicycle spread alone, we have a mouse in a helmet riding with a cupcake; the baby crow has a toy; the mommy crow has bread, grapes, cheese, and a bag; there are hippos and snakes and owls; the painter is in a hat….

These details not only make the story more interactive, but S’s interest in pointing them out builds vocabulary that S enjoys utilizing the next time we read the book.

Put simply, there’s a reason why S requests this book multiple times a week. Check it out – I hope you love it as much as we do!

Some quick stats on Animals Go Vroom!:

Page count: 30 pages of what I would consider the “main” book

Word count: 70

Average word count per illustration: 4.67 (I have a hunch that word count per illustration is going to be lowest in the books we read the most, so I’ll be tracking that over time. Check back to see how that hypothesis holds up….)
September 24, 2025

English