The Very Quiet Cricket

This book tells the story of a young cricket who was born without the ability to chirp. The cricket then goes throughout his life while other insects buzz, screech and hum him greetings. The cricket becomes discourages because he cannot chip a reply with a hello. This is until he see a silent moth fly past him and he is able to appreciate its silence. The cricket then meets a girl cricket and is miraculously able to chip beautifully. This was one children book that i personally had trouble grasping. I feel the story itself is very well told and imaginative however the ending left me feeling rather confused instead of satisfied with the crickets ending. The illustrations were very colorful ,captivating and creative. I personally do not show more feel this would be a good book to read to a classroom of small children as I can see a lot more questions would be asked without understanding the story. show less

Eric Carle's "The Very Quiet Cricket" is a classic! It is the beautiful story of a baby cricket being born. The young cricket meets various insects and tries to communicate by rubbing his wings together. The young cricket meets a girl cricket and is finally able to chirp. This story would be fun to read to a young class because of the repition throughout the story. The moral of the story that would get the student's attention is that the cricket never gave up on trying to chirp. No matter how many times he tried to talk to another animal, he never got discouraged to try and try again. It also showed that the cricket had a great deal of patience. These are two important messages I would like my students to walk away with.

#1468 in our old book database. Rated: Indifferent

Eric Carle once again employs too much repetition. Here a cricket meets nine different insects but is frustrated again and again that he cannot reply to their greetings with a chirp. It's only when he gets horny that he finally finds his song, which is a bit ick.

Side note: This book has an electronic component, but the battery in our copy has died after twenty years and there doesn't seem to be any way to replace it even if we wanted to.

Eric Carle's story The Very Quiet Cricket follows a cricket that has yet to develop his signature chirp. While he goes throughout the day encountering different animals and insects, they each share the sound they make in nature. However, communication in this regard is a struggle for the cricket and it begins to feel hopeless and lonely. If it can not make a sound now, will it every develop or come? After all, crickets are popularly known for their sound. Little does the cricket know that its own stress and pressure to level up to certain expectations is inhibiting him from finding his own voice/ sound.
I remember reading this book when I was very small. What I found and still find most intriguing about it is that this version of the show more book (Board book), allows the reader to listen to the sounds and chirps of the cricket. It is a great tool for young children because they are then submerged into a new environment and become part of the story themselves. As with Eric Carle's signature style of artwork, the images and various depictions of the animals create movement on the page, making it so that their pieced together look mimics the action of a moving limb, neck, etc. It is a very clear message with a fluid story line that makes reading with ease and concepts within the text more accessible for young readers to comprehend. I also feel that the balance between factual information and fictionally based character portrayals/ dialogue is a creative way to engage young readers and make the material less dry to read. show less

This is a wonderful Eric Carle books to read to anyone! Through a story of a cricket trying to "find it's voice" it meets other animals along the way who greet the cricket. At the end of the book he finally makes a sound! This book invites children to learn how to greet other friends. It also teaches children what types of sounds other animals can make. I love this book!

This is another favorite Eric Carle book, with beautiful illustrations and an interesting chirping noise when you reach the end. It's a nice quiet read for bedtime.

This book was a really great way of starting out my reviews. You can do so much interaction with the childern in this book. Whether it is talking about the noise that a cricket or animals make or even a voice - response activity. The book repeats its words so that by just a few pages being read the children will get the few words such as "rubbing his wings together, but nothing happened not a sound. " The children will interact with you and love to answer the rest of the book for you. In the cricket finally gets his voice and it sounds out the sound in the very last page. The children will love it! The story line is very simple, a cricket it born and cant find his voice but, then evenutally does. This will be a delight to children who show more are very shy and not as outgoing as other to know that not only did the little cricket find his voice but, they will soon too. The story will be a very good way to be an ice breaker in the class as well as other extention ideas for teachers to use in the class. show less