My Book of Nice Sounds

In this book of verse, Edward van de Vendel captures fifty everyday sounds for the smallest of children, in an extremely original way. With no buttons to push, no mimicry or clichés, this beautiful book is full of original rhymes, poetic one minute, playful the next, or containing a nod and a wink. The sounds are of all kinds: opening a bag of crisps, dad’s car coming up the drive, talking underwater, the wind blowing through the trees, raindrops pattering on a tent. This is a book to snuggle up with. All the verses immerse the young reader in cosiness and warmth.

Each new poem by Van de Vendel is a surprise and can stand firmly on its own two feet, but the illustrations by Mattias De Leeuw add extra oomph. De Leeuw gives it all he’s got: in his bear family there is even more rhythm and dynamism than the words convey, as a result of illustrations in which the colours rarely stay within the lines. He has a distinctive style: elegant illustrations with simple lines and an effective use of colour.