Before it was hijacked by the Teletubbies and redefined as a custard-slurping vacuum cleaner, the word noo-noo already covered a wide variety of meanings. In our house it has always been a baby's rubber soother, otherwise known as a dummy, but to others a noo-noo is a comfort blanket, a bit of old nightdress, a pillow or a squashy teddy bear. Whatever noo-noos mean to you, the chances are that Carol Thompson probably has it covered in her picture book study of children's comfort objects. Some of them are very superior shiny fabric noo-noos, while others are the more familiar smelly bits of rag. And inevitably they get lost. Put down for a moment while the child is engrossed in some activity, they are never at hand when the next crisis occurs and have and uncanny knack of getting themselves left on buses, at other people's houses or anywhere a long way from home. In childlike rhyming text, this book also hits the nail on the head with its illustrations of "Noo-noo wet, Noo-noo dry" which show a comfort blanket being dragged through puddles and then hung on the line to dry. Best of all is the sleepy scene at the end as the child curls up for a snooze, blanket clutched to its face, a picture of contentment that convinces mum not to try and dump that disgusting old rag. Cork Evening Echo "The simple mixed media illustrations show children and Noo-noos against white backgrounds with much verve and color. The facial expressions are particularly vivid as the difference between "Noo-noo lost" and "Noo-noo found" are worlds apart." Children's Literature
