You know those nights when you’re not sure if you actually got into a deep sleep at all? When you slept the whole night with one ear open because your kids are sick or because they suddenly develop the tendency to walk around in the middle of the night, or maybe it’s just a classic case of stupid insomnia? Well, we’ve had a couple of those nights lately. For some reason, when I’m in that state of mental exhaustion and my son brings me those sound effects kind of books that are full of “vroom vroom, choo choo, etc.” and other kinds of sounds I wouldn’t naturally make, I start feeling like I must really be insane. Why are these words coming out of my mouth? Why are these non-words in a book? Is it bedtime yet?
I recently was reading I’m A Truck Driver by Jonathan London to my children and noticing how the little girl character in the book talks in rhyming, descriptive words and the little boy character talks mostly in equally descriptive car and truck sounds. I noticed that and thought, “Spot on.” My little boy is actually quite a talker, but his innate ability to mimic sounds without thinking impresses me over and over again. I have no idea how to make car and truck sounds. I’m sure some girls do, but I wonder how many who don’t have brothers? I don’t know.
All that’s to say, I’m too tired for onomatopoeia. I’m avoiding those books that make me feel like a crazy person today. I need words and a story line to keep me awake. Maybe tomorrow, son, if you let me get some sleep, we’ll read a vroom vroom book.
I’ll be back tomorrow with a more informative post to continue the 31 Days of Picture Books series. If you’ve missed some posts, you can catch up here.
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