Murphy, Mary. Please be Quiet! and My Puffer Train. Illustrated by Mary Murphy. Houghton Mifflin, 1999. ISBN 0-395-97113-6 and 0-395-97105-5. $9.95. 32 pp. A Pre PB Reviewed by Rita Christensen Bam! Rattle! Zoom! It is hard for an energetic little penguin to keep quiet when the baby is sleeping-even with Mother penguin's reminders to please be quiet. After being outside, the penguin continues to be loud. Thrup. Clunk. Splash. When it starts to rain the noisy penguin is invited back inside the house on the condition that he keep quiet. Bent on expending energy, the little penguin comes up with a clever way to quietly frolic around the house. Puffa puff puffa. My Puffer Train rolls down the tracks, picking up animals on its journey. Conductor Penguin introduces toddlers to plump pig, a bossy old goose, a scraggy old crow, and other noisy animals. The animals frolic and play at the puffer train's destination. Splish splosh splash. The bright illustrations and fun use of onomatopoeia make this set an amusing yet educational read for toddlers. I read this book to my one-year-old daughter and later found her trying to read it herself by making up her own sound imitation words. An excellent book for home or public library use.
