"Four children in different countries hear a plethora of sounds in their natural surroundings. As they explore the great outdoors, the two boys and two girls of varying ethnicities are told to 'listen. / Hear. / Cup your ear.' They take note of the sounds made by the human body, the weather, various animals, and even a fiery volcano. On a farm in the USA, there is the 'whistle, whir' of birds singing and flying past and the 'screech and howl' of an owl and woodland foxes in the adjacent woods. In a tropical jungle in Brazil, there is the 'drip, drop, drum' of rain and the 'roar and WHOOSH' of a nearby waterfall. Readers are also transported to an alpine meadow filled with the 'chomp and chew' of grazing cows and to a riverfront town in South Africa where the 'slosh and lap' of waves greets the ear.

Finally, as the day comes to an end and the kids return indoors to read and paint before going to bed, other sounds emerge: 'whisper, / shush, / slumber, hush. / Purr, / snore, / sounds . no more.' The spare, rhyming text, consisting largely (but not exclusively) of onomatopoeic words, is enhanced by colorful, panoramic, scenic illustrations created with mixed media and Photoshop. The backmatter includes two pages of detailed information about 'The Science of Sounds,' complete with 'FUN FACT' sidelights and textbooklike diagrams of the human ear and human vocal cords. A lyrical soundscape that leaves room for observation and makes space for scientific discussion."--Kirkus Reviews.