Writer/Artist: James Chapman
Release Date: 15th November 2014 (Thought Bubble)

Soundimals by James Chapman is a book that’s going to live or die based on how intriguing you find its basic premise. Essentially, what we have here is an ‘illustrated guide to animal sounds in other languages’, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Writer and artist Chapman takes great pleasure in pointing out the curious phenomenon whereby different languages can interpret and describe animal noises in different ways. For example, while a horse may say “Neigh” in English, it actually says “Vrinsk” in Danish, and – somewhat puzzlingly – “I-Go-Go” in Russian. Rather than just a stream of silly noises, however, Chapman manages to tie things together with interesting facts about the animals, and a positive message about diversity and everything being just a ‘matter of opinion’.

Accompanied by some gloriously straightforward full-colour illustrations, Chapman takes us on a worldwide tour of eighteen animals and thirty-two different languages, and I have to say, I absolutely loved it. While undoubtedly skewed towards the younger reader, there’s enough charm and humour here to satisfy all but the most jaded comicbook fan, and I have no doubt that a lot of people – myself included – will find themselves unashamedly sounding out some of the more unusual animal noises, wondering aloud “how the heck do Romanians think a dog’s bark makes the sound Ham?”

Chapman’s artwork is undeniably simplistic, but perfectly suited for a book like this. He also deserves some credit for trying to pack in a variety of different versions of each type of animal when illustrating the differences between their sounds – a feat which is considerably easier for frogs or birds than it is for, say, sheep and elephants, as I’m sure you can imagine.

This is undoubtedly a book that is only really going to appeal to a certain demographic, and is unlikely to do much to win over those who would dismiss it as ‘silly’ or ‘childish’. But you know what? It is silly. It is childish. And it’s also a heck of a lot of fun into the bargain.

Soundimals is a book I can most definitely envisage parents reading to their young children, making the animal noises and soaking up the colourful illustrations together. While it’s definitely not going to appeal to everyone, Chapman deserves credit for putting together such a creative project, and a brief glimpse at his Tumblr shows that there are loads more brilliantly inventive ideas out there just waiting to be put down on paper. Definitely worth a look, and intriguing enough to make you think twice about what noise you’re actually hearing the next time you hear a dog bark.

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Soundimals will be available at Thought Bubble next month from James’ table at the New Dock Hall, and you can buy yourself a copy – along with loads of other great stuff – from his Etsy Store.

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The writer of this piece was: Craig Neilson (aka Ceej)
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