Boom! Bellow! Bleat! by Georgia Heard

This playful collection of poems—peppered with an astounding variety of animal sounds—is meant to be read aloud together.

These poems for two or more voices explore the myriad sounds animals make—from a frog’s jug-o-rum to a fish’s boom! to an elephant’s bark. Laced with humor, the poems are a delight to read aloud and cover all major classes of animals: mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects, even a crustacean! Readers will learn how to estimate the temperature by counting a cricket’s chirps and see how creatures make sounds at specific pitches and frequencies, so that they can be heard despite other noise around them. Extensive end notes provide more information on the animals and how and why they make the sounds they do. Written by noted children’s poet Georgia Heard, this is an ideal collection for parents and children to share, or for a fun, interactive classroom read-aloud.

Georgia Heard, winner of the 2023 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children, is an internationally recognized expert in the teaching of writing for grades K-8. She works as a consultant in schools and districts around the world, and is a longtime staff developer for the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project.

Aaron DeWitt is the illustrator of Dreaming of You by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and of several Hallmark children’s books, including All the Ways I Love You by Theresa Trinder.

Author Residence: Singer Island, FL

Aaron DeWitt is the illustrator of Dreaming of You by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and of several Hallmark children's books, including All the Ways I Love You by Theresa Trinder.

Illustrator Residence: Kansas City, MO