Oh No!

Oh No!

James Foley

Penguin, 2026

32pp., hbk., RRP $A19.99

9781761355073

It begins with the cover illustration – a large blue whale is about to land on a pig floating in a rubber giraffe, cocktail in hand and enjoying the good life. But why is the whale looking more concerned about what is about to happen than the pig?

Open the cover and there are a whole lot of words like crash and ker-splash, and then before we even get to the title page, we learn that onomatopoeia (pronounced on-oh-mat-oh-pee-ah)means “words that are written how they sound” or “sound effects” whereas oh-no-matopoeia (pronounced oh-no-mat-oh-pee-ah – note the subtle difference) is “the sound of things going very badly”.

And then the story, and the fun, really begin as the reader is presented with a page of “clap, clap, clap” and asked to identify the noise, only to discover that it’s applause for an elephant in a dinner suit holding a wedding cake.  But why does he have a cake and why does the next page consist of “:oink”, “bump”, and “yeeargh”?

Our language is full of those words that are written as they sound, and when visual effects are added, the result is this hilarious tale that little ones are going to LOL at as they join in the rising crescendo, while slightly older children could be introduced to the literary device in a fun and engaging way that encourages them to explore language as they think of sounds, how to represent them with letters, portray them as a graphic and then think of a scenario that could produce them.  There are even some colouring sheets to download, including one with a collection of words to kickstart the thinking, although making up your own original word and its representation can be encouraged. 

It’s also full of crazy cause and effect scenarios, that are seemingly disconnected until the last page, when the reader discovers why the elephant has the cake and so it all begins again. Again, great fun for young readers but also offering the older reader a pathway to progress their own story as they consider “what if?” and “what then?” 

It’s funny, it’s clever, it’s fast-moving and action-packed , it’s unique and it’s a great teaching tool to pull in even the most reluctant reader. 

Team it with Tick-Tock Around the Clock to create a series of lessons about onomatopoeia that will expand students’ language and writing skills in the most engaging way, perhaps even igniting an interest in  learning how writers use and play with words to tell their stories and inspiring them to so the same.