MommaReads

Turk is his parents’ pride and joy…he is the stongest, fastest, plumpest turkey on the farm. His little brother, Runt, is not. What Runt lacks in bulk, however, he makes up for in brains. As potential turkey eaters come to the farm to pick out their Thanksgiving bird, it is Runt’s quick wit that saves his dim-witted brother time and time again. This is a very cute story and I think my favorite part is at the end when they realize that Runt is right and they start to work together to discourage possible turkey eaters.

Peter lives on Pumpkin Hollow Farm with his Mimi and Papa. They grow several crops throughout the year, but Peter’s favorites are the pumpkins. One year, Peter ends up tending to a very special pumpkin. He nurtures it and watches it grow and grow. When the farm opens up to the public, that special pumpkin’s vine is so far away from the others that no one picks it. That is until a very special someone comes looking for a very special pumpkin and Peter knows exactly what to do with his pumpkin. Very cute story of giving and friendship and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the illustrations.

There are so many things to love about this book. It rhymes, it gives children the opportunity to count backwards, it has a lot of repetition which is great for children’s participation which is wonderful for pre-readers and early readers and it has animal sounds. This book will appeal to children of many different age levels because it has so much to offer.

Tommy always goes down to the barn in the morning to say hi to the animals and to bring them all a treat. On this particular morning, however, he hasn’t shown up and the animals don’t know why until the family dog comes down to the barn to inform them that he heard the people in the house talking about it and Tommy went to a place called “kindergarten”. The animals are very concerned about what this place is, what it looks like and why Tommy is there. Tommy finally comes home at the end of the day and goes straight to the barn to tell the animals everything he learned that day. This is an adorable and very sweet story.

There was a time in our house when this was THE book that got read before naptime. It takes you on a trip through Farmer John’s farm complete with cows, chickens, farm cats/kittens, horses, goats, rabbits, pigs and ducks. What makes this book are the fantastic pictures that go along with the text. At the end of the book you feel like you just read a scrapbook from someone’s trip to the farm. A fabulous selection for kids who love farms and animals.

photo from Tuesday’s Frog

We were introduced to this book when it came in our box of Cheerios a few years ago and we instantly fell in love with it. Clorinda is a cow who aspires to be more than a cow…she wants to dance! She is told that she can’t dance by many, but she doesn’t give up. She leaves the farm and heads to the city, where after many no’s, she finally finds a spot in the corps de ballet. She practices, practices and practices and finally gets her chance in the spotlight where she promptly smashes her dancing partner after landing on him. Poor Clorinda realizes that her dancing career needs to find a different path. She doesn’t give up though. She does eventually find a stage where she can show off all of her moves, it’s just not where she expected to end up.

I used to be a preschool teacher and one of the interview questions I had was to name my favorite children’s book.  In that split second when you have to come up with a coherent answer I came up with Margaret Wise Brown’s The Big Red Barn.  I think the reason I fell in love with this book, besides the sweet and simple story,  is the cadence of the words, the rhyme and the ease with which children can learn the story and start to “read” it themselves because of its simplicity.  Less is more with this book.  It’s not a showstopper…it is a quiet classic.