Knock Knock by Catherine Meatheringham ilustrated by Deb Hudson

 

Knock on some doors around the world.

Who will you meet?

What will you do?

Klopf Klopf I am Lotta in Germany; Tukituki I am Loa from Tonga; Kon Kon I am Yuzuki from Japan, Daqq Daqq I am Karim from Egypt, Toc Toc I am Mateo from Mexico, and Thak Thak I am Sana from India. For your youngest children there is a wild map at the back with each door and 'knock knock' word. The end papers could inspire an art activity. Oh, and when you knock on each door the young child who greets you invites you in to meet their family, share a meal, come to a party, visit their school, or play a game. Teachers should add Knock Knock their list of books to share for Harmony Day. 

With vibrant illustrations and fun knocking sounds, this is a joyous celebration of children, culture and language around the world.

This book gave me a huge smile because it is such a simple and perhaps obvious idea, but I have never seen a book before that explored the simple gesture of knocking on a door and the way this is so different around the world. I do hope the publisher has submitted this for our CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) Early Childhood award (2024). Many years ago the CBCA Book Week slogan was Doorways - this book would have been such a perfect way to explore that idea. 

Here is a web page for Catherine Meatheringham - she lives in Canberra. I previously talked about Milly and the Mulberry Tree illustrated by Deb Hudson. 

Catherine talked to The Canberra Times:

"All of my books have onomatopoeia in them, so I love books with sounds that encourage kids to join in with the stories, especially that early childhood market, so that they are part of the story and engaged," she said.

"This one, in particular, I'm really passionate about kids being exposed to different cultures and different lives, but also we have such a multicultural society in Australia and this is a way to showcase that element as well."

Reading Knock Knock, reminded me of another book - Norman Speak - which looks at the way a young boy needs to translate talking to his dog.

And Catherine Meatheringham and Deb Hudson have made a book about this too:

And I need to read this one:

I also thought of this old favourite - a book about knocking on a door, which I read to hundreds of Kindergarten children over the 33 years I worked in a number of school libraries. It would be a fun companion book and it is one of the best ever books to read aloud - with heaps of funny voices and tons of expression.