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Summary
Summary
When the children go back to school, the animals on the farm have nothing to do. That is...until they discover the library. But when Cow, Pig, Horse, and Goat try to check out a book, they are met with a very puzzled librarian. Why can't she understand? It is only when Hen gives it a try - "book! Book! BOOK!" - that the animals finally get what they want! "Young kids...[will] love making all the animal noises and recognize how it feels when an adult doesn't understand." - Booklist
Author Notes
Deborah Bruss is the author of the children's title, Book! Book! Book!, published by Arthur A. Levine Books. Bruss' work as an author has only been a relatively recent phenomenon. As a child, Bruss did not enjoy writing, and even attempted to avoid writing-intensive classes in high school. She did not overcome her fear of writing until she reached college and began her career as an author when she was in her thirties. She began writing in an attempt to interest her first grade son in books. Bruss wrote an adventure story for her son and then she decided to take writing classes at a local university.
Bruss had previously worked as a substitute teacher and school librarian and used these experiences to develop her writing. She began writing essays for the Home and Family section of the Sunday Monitor in Concord New Hampshire. Her latest work published by Scholastic is Book! Book! Book!, an imaginative children's title about animals who have discovered the library and have trouble communicating with the librarian. The idea for the book came from Bruss' father, whose joke inspired an idea for "a chicken demanding a book, book!"
Bruss currently resides in rural New Hampshire with her husband Michael, her sons Nathanial and Isaac and daughters Bayshay and Isatu. Her hobbies include traveling, sailing, swimming, adaptive skiing and singing with a female musical group, the Songweavers
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
When the children leave the farm to go back to school, the bored barnyard animals head to the library in search of something to do. But their language ("Neigh! Neigh!" and "Moo! Moo!") is only so much noise for the kindly but confused librarianÄuntil a determined hen flaps in and clucks "Book! Book! Book!" Soon, the gang is back on the farm happily having a story hour of their own (the cow even presents a puppet show). The plot of this debut book may be predictable, but Beeke's (The Brand New Creature) acrylic-and-watercolor paintings buoy the story. With a cheery, naf style and dappled, Easter-basket colors, the artist makes every full-bleed spread look like a sunny mural composed by young library goers, and her vignettes keep the attempts at communication tightly focused. Even though her characterizations are deceptively simple, the resolve of the plucky fowl and glee of the newly book-equipped animals shines through. Young bibliophiles in particular will appreciate Beeke's depiction of the library as a welcoming place of fun and possibilities. Ages 2-6. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
When the farmyard animals need a diversion, they wander into town and discover the library. None of them can make themselves understood by the librarian--until the hen enters and clucks, Book! Book! BOOK! Soft, naive watercolor paintings illustrate the satisfying story, which, with its witty conclusion, will be a sure winner at story time. From HORN BOOK Fall 2001, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Ages 2^-5. When the children go back to school, the farm animals are bored, so they drive to town and try out the public library. The librarian can't understand what the horse, the cow, the goat, and the pig are saying. But then the hen clucks "Book! Book! Book!" and the librarian finally gets it and gives them all books to take home to the farm. Even young kids may find the nonsense a bit contrived, but they'll love making all the animal noises and recognize how it feels when an adult doesn't understand what they're saying. The playful, splashy pictures in watercolor and acrylic show the library as a busy, exciting place, where the goat gets absorbed in story hour, and the bullfrog is cozy on the bookshelves. In fact, in a running gag, the pictures show that the bullfrog has been at home with books from the beginning. Then story hour comes to the barnyard, and the delighted neighs, moos, baas. oinks, quacks, and Book! Book! Books! go on until sundown. Hazel Rochman
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Bruss has taken an old joke and drawn it out into a full-length picture book. When the children return to school, the barnyard is quiet and very dull. When the hen announces that she is heading to town, the rest of the animals follow. Seeing happy faces coming out of the library, she informs the others that she will go in and find something for them to do. Told that she is "too small for such a big job," the larger creatures take turns venturing inside, but cannot make themselves understood. Finally the hen goes in, says "Book! Book! Book!," and comes out with the desired items. The animals return to the farm and are pictured reading until the sun sets. In the unlikely event that children haven't already heard this joke, they will not be impressed by this belabored version. The very title of the story gives away the punch line and makes it anticlimactic. Beeke's watercolor illustrations featuring blue horses and dot-eyed children are pleasant but unexceptional.- Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
The sounds of the barnyardand the surprising likeness some of them hold to the English languageare introduced in this brisk and atmospheric picture book from a clever newcomer. When the kids pack up and return to school, the farm animals get a little bored; then the hen suggests a trip into town to see whats happening. So a sampling of animals troops along until they see some smiling faces leaving a building: the library. Before the hen has a chance to go inside and investigate, the horse says, Youre too small for such a big job. Leave it to me. The horse goes in and asks for something to do, but all the librarian hears is neigh, neigh. The goat, pig, and cow get the same blank look from the librarian for all their baaahs, oinks, and moos. Thus it is left to the hen and her book, book, book to get the message across. Home again, all are content with the books until the frog notes that he read it, read it. Observant readers will have noticed that, in fact, he has. Simple, gladdening word fun, set in Beekes (The Brand New Creature, 1998) charming watercolor and acrylic scenes of familiar farm and library activities filled with just the right details. (Picture book. 2-5)
