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Summary
Summary
A New York Times best-selling author and a Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator evoke life on a farm in a simple, lyrical text and boldly expressive images.
From the bull to the barn cat to the wild bunny, the farmyard bustles with life. The rooster crows, the rams clash, the bees buzz, and over there in the garden, a snake -- silent and alone -- winds and watches. David Elliott's graceful, simple verse and Holly Meade's exquisite woodcut and watercolor illustrations capture a world that is at once timeless yet disappearing from view -- the world of the family farm.
Author Notes
As well as being an author David is also a professor at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire.
Holly Meade (1956-2013) wrote and illustrated If I Never Forever Endeavor . She earned a Caldecott Honor for her illustrations in Hush! A Thai Lullaby by Minfong Ho. She also illustrated And Then Comes Halloween by Tom Brenner; On the Farm , In the Wild , and In the Sea by David Elliott; and many others.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Like the vibrant rooster on this oversize book's jacket, Meade's (Hush! A Thai Lullaby) colored woodcut prints are so bold they seem to crow at the reader. Leaves look bigger than life, and each chicken scratch in the barnyard dust leaves a strong, black line. Elliott's (And Here's to You!) short, simple poems often seem overwhelmed by the pictures, which feature animals that stare intently at the reader, as if their morning activities were being interrupted by someone with a camera. Taking a roster of the farm residents, the poems include the occasional striking image (the pig has a tail "as coy as a ringlet"), and more frequently comment on the animals' obvious characteristics (the cow "makes milk/ standing/ grazing./ Abra-/ cada-/ bra!/ She's/ utterly/ amazing!"). As brief as they are, often just a sentence or two, the poems talk to both adults and preschoolers. A comment about the turtle's "fossil head" will be of less interest to children than the idea that "in [the turtle's] house,/ it's always night." While some illustrations are stiff and anthropomorphic, overall this old-fashioned farm stands in for an idyllic existence, a time and place where the bees "tell their story,/ sweet and old." Ages 3-5. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Preschool) A series of brief, often funny poems catch the personalities of farm animals, from the bull, who "knows what he likes -- / cows and corn. / Knows what he is -- / muscle and horn," to the bees, who "tell their story, / sweet and old. / It begins in clover; / it ends with gold." Unlike the idyllic descriptions found in most farm animal books, Elliott's keen observations don't always flatter the beasts. The sheep, for instance, "began his woolly life / as gentle as a / lamb. Too bad / he turned / into a / ram"; Meade's illustration shows two horned rams butting heads ("BAM!") while a docile little lamb stands nearby. Woodcuts can sometimes be austere, but these softly tinted, spacious pictures, on large, full-bleed pages, are imbued with humor, texture, and the beauties of the natural landscape. From an alluring cover with a rooster in full crow to its concluding, gently ironic ode to the silence of rabbits, this book will make an unusually interesting choice for farm-animal storytimes. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Joining an upswell of cozy picture books that evoke an earlier era, such as The Apple Pie That Papa Baked (2007) and The House in the Night (2008), this handsome poetry collection feels as hearty and comforting as a bowl of sugared porridge. Against an idyllic backdrop white farmhouse, red barn children meet a parade of familiar animals in 13 pithy, often slyly comic poems. Moving in a different direction from his quirky middle-grade fiction (the Evangeline Mudd series and others), Elliott delivers rapid-fire, down-to-earth distillations of animal behavior or characteristics, such as bees' busywork ( It begins in clover, / It ends with gold ) and a bull's stolid nature ( The Bull / Knows what he likes / cows and corn. / Knows what he is / muscle and horn ). In an impressive first foray into woodblock printing, with results that call forth the work of noted printmaker John Lawrence (This Little Chick, 2006), Caldecott Honor illustrator Meade respects the spare power of Elliott's contributions with judiciously textured images that never anthropomorphize and yet, like the poems, imply glimmers of innate character. From toddlers to the youngest poets, children will delight in the fun and beauty on display here, while adults will soak in the nostalgia embodied in the tranquil, pastoral scenes.--Mattson, Jennifer Copyright 2008 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Elliott looks at a rooster, a cow, a pony, a dog, sheep, a barn cat, a goat, a pig, a snake, bees, a bull, a turtle, a duck, a hen, and a rabbit in verses that are rich in vocabulary and, for the most part, written in rhyme. Large, black typeface mirrors the black lines in Meade's beautiful, color woodblock prints that superbly reflect the mood and action in the poetry. There is motion in the illustrations of the strutting, crowing rooster; the kicking hind legs of the pony; and the head-butting rams. In contrast, the artwork appropriately reflects the stillness of the grazing cows and watchful barn cat. The verses flow when read aloud and the double-page pictures can be easily seen by a group. As an extension activity, have children compare and contrast this book with Lee Bennett Hopkins's On the Farm (Little, Brown, 1991; o.p.). Elliott and Meade have crafted a picture book well worth adding to any size library collection.-Lynn K. Vanca, Akron-Summit County Public Library, Richfield, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Energetic woodcuts accompany playfully simple poems as they give young readers an engaging tour of the barnyard. From the usual suspects--rooster, cow, sheep--to some of the less celebrated denizens of the farm--snake, bees, turtle--each poem varies to suit its subject. The barn cat's verse is succinct: "Mice / had better / think twice." The snake's winds its way down the page in sinuous shape. At their best, Elliott's images are unexpected and all the more lovely: The turtle "Lifts her fossil head / and blinks / one, two, three / times in the awful light." Others are not so successful, but Meade's illustrations give them credence: The rooster "Crows and struts. / He's got feathers! / He's got guts!" This rhythmic but rather opaque assertion is accompanied by an oversized rooster who dominates the foreground; eyes shut in concentration, he levitates himself with the force of his crow--the very embodiment of "guts." Farmyard books are a dime a dozen, but this one is a worthwhile addition, for those poems that reach beyond the ordinary and for the good-natured illustrations that complement them. (Picture book/poetry. 2-5) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
