book pick: Beep and Bah

my brother got married last month, and i was his best woman (ahhhh). as part of the bridal party introductions, we were supposed to come up with a "hidden talent." i couldn't think of anything besides being handy with an em-dash—you know, like this—but that was my "known talent." well, i finally thought of one.

drum roll... my hidden talent: sound effects for picture books. (cymbal crash!)

i realize that in print, that was totally anticlimactic. (imagine a wah-wah-wah-waaaaaaaah here.) but just work with me here, people.

i rock the animal sounds, kerplink-kerplank-kerplunk's, squishy mud sounds using spit and that part of the mouth between the cheek and jaw ... dude, i even occasionally throw in a la-la-la soundtrack. (i do, however, avoid Donald Duck, which i cannot mimic. we leave that one to Daddy, who can.)

so it comes as no surprise that we've been reading and re-reading Beep and Bah around our house, a colorful, cartoonish caricature of two friends—a goat and a robot—as they search for a missing sock, asking various animals along the way if they possess its match (mooooo, grrrooowl, squeekity squeek, eeeeeooooooo). Beep and Bah have a great adventure, plowing along until they hit the end of the road, never quite realizing how close they are to that elusive (and smelly?) sock...

this uber-onomatopoeic picture book comes from James Burks ("professional maker-upper-er"), a one-time animator for the likes of Nickelodeon, Warner Bros. and Disney. so he's definitely an illustration talent (the kind of person who produces this in an hour while drinking a coffee at Starbucks). and this book shows he's also got a great sense for humorous storytelling, too.

a lot of the fun sounds are built into this book. but consider also:

- adding a bit of the William Tell Overture to the opening Bah-waking-up-in-the-morning panes

- pop-pop-popping or otherwise giving sound to Beep and Bah's movements through the book (don't forget to muffle them when Beep goes into the quick sand)

- move your finger up and down your throat for the parts where they speak underwater

- invoke your inner Dory for the whale call

so, what books do you like best for their sounds?