So Licy and I were at Indigo and we saw this book and thought it was pretty interesting! First thought, pigs definetly do not say "la la la". And of course, our inner child HAD to figure out why this was happening. I really loved the pictures and how well the book's storyline was seamless. You may think this is just a children's picture book, but the ending REALLY got us. It asked a very important question: What do you say? And it honestly took us by surprise, because what DO we say? We know what animals "say", but how about humans? Everyone's got their own answers and that's what makes this book so intriguing.
This book was way more than we expected, and really eye opening. Definetly worth the read!

I read this book aloud several times a day to babies and toddlers! I have it memorized; I can grunt this animal noise poem on command. And I'm getting better giving classes (yes classes?!) to drooling, curious babes, some who can't even sit up on their own. You'd be amazed how under 1 year olds can and will sit in a circle and pay attention and interact. We certainly have to keep busy on the 10 1/2 hour nursery shift.

"Moooo, says the cow. Baaa, says the sheep. La, la, la, says three singing pigs. No, no, you say, that isn't right. The pigs say, Oink, all day and night. Rhinosauruses Snort and Snuff. And little dogs say Ruff, Ruff, Ruff! Other dogs say BOW, WOW, WOW, and cats and kittens say Meow. The duck says Quack, the horse says Neigh. It's quiet now..what do You say?" -SB

My bf told me of a study that humans can instinctively learn how to make animal sounds and have used it to their advantage, for example, to hunt down prey. I find it funny that we still teach our babies animal sounds, though these city kids do not come in contact with most of these animals ever. It's still cute to make weird noises with babies, and to talk about talking-

"It's quiet now-what do YOU say?"

This book has cute illustrations and introduces kids to animals and the sounds that they make.
Sturdy and fun.

This woman is a genius. The way she can craft a simple and delightful story around animal noises is unparalleled.

Illuminating. This classic from the Boynton canon has furthered my studies of animal sounds immensely. -M

Slaps so hard. Goes nuts whenever we read it.

Just listing the sounds of animals, with a twist! An incorrect statement! Pigs don't say "la la la". We have so much fun with that.

Posing the final question of "what do you say", a challenge for the reader. How would you answer? What do you stand for?

Hopefully this is the book that gets my daughter to stop thinking that the pig says "moo".

Another reviewer noted that the title can be read to the tune of Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance and now I can’t look at this book the same way.

A fun little story about animal noises.

A bit boring but it does review animal noises which is kind of nice

I was falling into the familiar rhythm of animal noises connected to their respective animals when Boynton completely flipped the script on me. Rather than oinking, she had the pigs saying "la la la."

Now, I am no livestock expert, but I have observed pigs a respectable number of times in my life. At no point have I heard a pig say "la la la." I must conclude that Boynton is going for absurdity here, and, from this point onward, I was ready for a roller coaster of surrealism. However, Boynon does not treat us to more of this delicious weirdness. Instead, she chooses to treat us to more animal noises and then, in a rather poignant moment, she asks us, as readers, to consider what noises we make.

The age-old question of our place in the animal kingdom has now been broached. The worry here, particularly if this is a bedtime story, is that a child might think too deeply on this question and be left tossing and turning in a bout of insomnia as they contemplate this question. Soon your poor child will start spiralling into questions about the purpose of humanity, whether the communication rendered by humans is really that much more meaningful than that of so-called lesser creatures, and whether our treatment of animals, and livestock in particular, can be justified morally.

Before you know it, you have a sleep deprived child who is preaching to you about veganism and writing manifestos for the Animal Liberation Front in crayon on your clean white walls.

If this is a risk that you are willing to take, it is well worth it.

It’s a Sandra Boynton book, so it’s almost not worth reviewing. You know it’s going to be 5 stars. However, this Boynton book stands out enough from the already-exalted pack that I think it’s worth a review.

Basically it’s a poem of animals and the sounds they make. “A cow says moo, a sheep says baa” until you get to the surprising line “three singing pigs say la la la.” Hilarity ensues. Really!

Like all Boynton books, it’s rhythmic so my son enjoys the narrative, and he can participate in the reading by supplying the animal sounds as we go. The illustrations are colorful enough to grab his attention, but simple enough that he can point out different animals and the different parts of the animals. The final page of the book has all the animals together, and he spends the most time on this page pointing out the various animals and making their corresponding noises.

If nothing else, this book is worth checking out just to listen to the other adults in your life act out the crazy animal sounds. We have a weekly dinner with our extended family, and my son loves to make the rounds and have every adult present read the story with him. It’s pretty great to hear your older brother act out “rhinoceroses snort and snuffle."