Review by Booklist Review
If you're looking for a read-aloud with lots of sound effects banging and crashing and booming then this is your book. The Bungles are a family of indeterminate species (each has a nose that resembles a small elephant trunk), and they're a noisy crew: Bella bangs on pots and pans, / and Fitz and Finn, / the Bungle babies, / Squeak and / Squawk and / SQUELCH! Sam, the contemplative middle child, can't stand the ruckus, and so he heads off into the woods for some much-needed solitude. All is well at first, but as it gets darker, and as he gets lost, Sam needs to seize his inner Bungle to find his way home. The text, rendered in all kinds of fonts and type sizes, differentiates the sounds (making for a tricky read at times), and noise is cleverly illustrated by thought-bubble-like balloons of color. But it's European artist Vere's hand-drawn and digitally colored illustrations that are the eye-catcher. The odd little creatures, with their saucepan-huge eyes and tufted ears, will charm kids into joining the fun.--Kelley, Ann Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Doyle's (Get Happy) story is simple-quiet Sam is overwhelmed by his big, noisy family-yet the writer's exuberant, Gaelic-tinged wordplay and Vere's (Banana!) edgy visuals give it real excitement. (There's even one brief, well-managed moment of terror.) Vere draws Sam and his family as a collection of raccoonlike creatures with pointy ears and tubular snouts; big, colorful, swooping speech balloons emanate from each family member to represent his or her distinctive racket ("Mama Bungle trills and tinkles,/ Papa wheezes, then he sneezes,/ Granny Bungle clicks and clacks"). Sam's quest for quiet ("And so he upped and so he offed and so he wandered to the woods") starts well, but as night begins to fall and Sam loses his way, he grows nervous: "A slippy-slidy slithered down his neck!" Sam's yells for help are reinforced by Vere's heavy, shuddering lines. Not a moment too soon, there's a huge commotion, and the appearance of speech balloons amid the forest trees signal that Sam's loud and loving family has come to rescue him. It's a gratifying fireworks display of words and affection. Ages 3-up. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Large families are often very noisy and the Bungles, a coterie of anthropomorphic lupine creatures, are no exception. They generate a terrific amount of sound-way too much for Sam Bungle, the quiet thinker of the bunch. Tiring of the ceaseless racket, he wanders off to the woods, enjoying nature and humming little rhymes. As he ventures deeper and deeper into the forest, it gets dark. Lost and scared, Sam hollers for help. Hearing his distress, the entire Bungle clan rushes to the rescue. Sam realizes that he loves his family, and that sometimes noise is good. Hand drawn and digitally colored, the double-spread illustrations dazzle with saturated yellows, purples, oranges, greens, and blues. Changes in font size and style highlight the noise words. The Bungles' din is further depicted as brightly colored empty speech balloons, their size proportional to strength of the sound-"a hurricane of noise" takes up an entire spread. With its exuberant language and quirky characters, this story is a fun addition to most collections.-Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Everyone in the Bungle family squeaks, squawks and squelches too much for Sam, the quiet, dreamy middle-child creature (the Bungles look vaguely like raccoons). Sam is bombarded by noise in Doyle's captivatingly onomatopoeic free verse. Vere illustrates sound as colorful bubbles and bursts that issue forth from each family member. Against the paper-bagbrown background, readers see pink upside-down teardrop shapes coming from Mama, a purple balloon of sound from Granny's knitting needles and a spiky orange blast from sister Bella. But poor Sam has a squiggly tornado of black lines above his head. He needs to get away from this noise. "So he upped / and so he offed / and so he wandered / to the woods." At first all is bliss, as he finds himself surrounded by clouds, trees and a small stream. Bunnies and birds emit tiny sound shapes in pink, yellow and blue. Sam is inspired to create some rhymes, but gradually it gets dark. The deepening purple scenes become increasingly scary as he feels "a flitter-flutter / flap around his face" and then a "slippy-slidy / [slither] / down his neck!" Young ones will see that these threatening things are only benign nocturnal creatures. Predictably, Sam must resort to the behavior he usually loathes and yells for help. Slowly he hears his family come for him as a double-page spread shows him happily engulfed in a "HURRICANE OF NOISE!" Quiet thinkers will enjoy meeting a character like themselves, and others may gain a better understanding of those who crave a little peace. (Picture book. 4-6)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
