On the Farm
Author: David Elliot
Illustrator: Holly Meade
Publisher: Candlewick, March 2008
Picture Book: 32 pages
Age: 5 and up
Genre: Realistic fiction, poetry
Chickadee Award 2009-2010 Nominee
Themes: Farm life, animals, agriculture
This book is a collection of free verse poems about the different animals found on a farm. The poem for the snake slithers down the page creatively, but my favorite might be “The Barn Cat”: “Mice / had better / think twice.” It is a fun book with a lot of rhyming, alliteration, really great onomatopoeias and some humor. It would be excellent for use in teaching any of those things, as well as just being a great farm and animal book. The illustrations are woodcuts, which amazes me, and watercolors, which really give a sense of movement and softness all at once. It is a truly beautiful book. It would be fantastic for a read aloud, especially the last several pages, as the reader should exclaim the noises the birds make and then gradually lower the volume of their voice until whispering for the pages about the rabbit.
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