The book begins with children enjoying all the sounds around them. The book then shifts to discuss how a person forms sounds in their throat, with a helpful diagram on page 12. The book then goes on explaining how our ears pick up sounds from vibrations. Different sounds can alert different messages both for humans and animals. The book uses the howler monkey as a example for an animal that uses sound to keep predators away. The book also explains how bats use high pitch frequencies to move in the dark, even though they cannot see. We learn how sound waves travel through solid ground, air, and water. A mother whale also uses sound waves to to locate her baby in the ocean. This is very similar to how humans use sonar in submarines. The book goes into explaining how sounds are measured in decimals and gives many examples. The book concludes with explaining how we should be sure to protect our ears from loud, hard noises.
This book contains a lot of information on sound. I learned some new facts from reading this book, and I know students could benefit from this too. This book could be used as a supplement in a science lesson on sound waves, or could also be integrated in a music lesson discussing pitch and vibrations. As a bonus, I also enjoyed the fun and informative illustrations. ( )

Sounds All Around is a great book to use when introducing the concept of sound to students. This book describes different sounds we make and hear all around us. It also describes how our vocal cords vibrate in order to produce sounds and then details what is happening inside of our ear in order for us to hear sound. The book also puts into perspective how loud certain sounds are that hear frequently. One thing I really loved about this book was its diversity. The book uses sounds from multiple different cultures and animals and I love that. ( )

I love love love the illustrations in this book! This book is an interactive story that discusses sounds, sound waves, vocal cords, hearing, sonar, and decibels. For only having 34 pages, this book is jam-packed with informational text, but it is presented in such a fun way. I love that this book includes a glossary for the different scientific terms. The book also includes several different activities that can be used to discover various sounds such as a sound matching game, listen to the sounds around you, and listen to the sound travel through water. I also enjoyed the fact that this book is leveled. ( )

Exploration of hearing and making sound. Five children including one young toddler move through the indoors and outdoors making noise withe their bodies and other objects found in nature and in their homes. The history lesson on drums was placed in the mddle of the book, maybe to add more diversity, but awkward. Overall it is easy to read and more difficult, detail reading that describes functions of the body are available without interupting the flow of the book. ( )

Sounds all around explains how humans can produce sound with their vocal chords. It also explains how we have the ability to hear these sounds through our ears. It gives a brief history on the way that sounds were and are used to send messages and also explains how animals use sound to communicate. My kids really enjoyed this book and we learned that sound is measured in decibels. ( )