Wham, Bang, Thump!

When the boys were little, we read aloud Helen Cooper's book The Bear Under the Stairs (yet another out-of-print book I would like to have) to the point of memorization. It is about a little boy named William who believes there is a bear under the stairs in his home, and to pacify that bear, he tosses food (always alliteratively listed) in the door and quickly closes it with a "wham, bang, thump!" They always joined in on those onomatopoeic words.

Moo. Woof. Bam. Splat. Pow. Oww. Onomatopoeia flowed freely after an explanation of its meaning and today's read-aloud of Candace Fleming's book Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! In the story, Mr. McGreely plants a garden and looks forward to harvesting lettuce, carrots, peas, and tomatoes...but does not plan on the gnawing interference of three rabbits. They approach his garden after the sun goes down and the moon comes up with "tippy-tippy-tippy-pat" sounds. As his fortress grows, their sounds become "spring" and "dash" and more. The listeners loved it and hands raised repeatedly to share onomatopoeia they now recognized as part of daily language.