Ruby is a Tasmanian Devil and she’s on a mission. She wants
to be scary. The trouble is, when she opens her mouth to make frightening
noises, all that comes out is, scrrr and screekle and scrunch. Poor Ruby can’t
even scare Mum and Dad. When Owl, Fox and Bull make fun of her scary efforts,
Ruby gets worried.
But she’s a determined little devil and sets out to achieve
success. After listening to the sounds around her Ruby opens her mouth to see
what noises she can make. When Mum spills the knucklebone soup and Dad drops
three stitches (good to see a knitting dad!), Ruby knows her new repertoire is
working. Soon there’s a cacophony of yammer-ammer-ooing and yeee-oww-eeeing all
around the house.
This is a thoroughly entertaining book for toddlers through
to anyone who loves onomatopoeia – perfect for reading aloud. Margaret Wild
supplies a rollicking text that romps and rolls with Kerry Argent’s delightful
illustrations. Together they capture mischief and tenderness, exuberance,
disappointment and discovery.
With young children, this book would be a perfect springboard
for exploring the senses. What sounds can you hear? What noises can you make?
It would be an ideal resource for discussion about persistence or the theme Me
and my Family. What can you remember trying to learn to do? Skipping?
Whistling? Clicking your fingers? How do you feel when your brothers or sisters
or your friends can do something that you can’t? How do you think Ruby felt
when she couldn’t scare Owl and Fox and Bull?
Rumour has it there was a LOT of deliberating about getting
just the right sounding words for this text. It certainly paid off!
Allen&Unwin 2007
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