Listening in all facets of life is important but it is wonderful to be able to go outside, be still and just listen. What will you hear? Hopefully some natural noises, such as cicadas, frogs, birds, running water, waves.
As background to going on a listening walk you could use one of these books as provocation:
• The Listening Walk by Paul Showers and Aliki
• Listen to Our World by Bill Martin Jr and Melissa Sweet
• Listen to the Rain by Bill Martin Jr and James Endicott
And after your walk and comparing lists you could follow up with books about some of the sounds:
• Cicada Sing Song by Pat Simmons and Kate Dreiling
• Cicada Symphony by Sue Fliess and Gareth Lucas
• Noisy Bug Sing-along by John Himmelman
• The Dawn Chorus by Suzanne Barton
• The Forgotten Song by Coral Vass and Jess Racklyeft
• Sounds all Around Us by Ryhia Dank
• Sounds All Around by Susan Hughes and Ellen Rooney
• The Sounds Around Town by Maria Callucio
You could just read a couple of favourites about noise such as:
• Noisy Night by Mac Barnett and Brian Biggs
• Too Much Noise by Ann McGovern and Simms Taback
Or you could segue to the winning Early Childhood Book Where the Lyrebird Lives by Vikki Conley and Max Hamilton and talk about mimicry because lyrebirds are masters of mimicry.
Lyrebirds are capable of imitating almost any sound. As well as their own calls, clicks and song, you will usually hear them mimicking loud clear sounds made by other birds and mammals, including humans. They have been heard to mimic the sounds of chainsaws, horns, alarms and even trains.
