Baby Farm Animals

Children's Literature - Katie DeWald

Baby farm animals steal the show in this guided reading level B volume of the "All about Baby Animals" series. The vivid, lifelike pictures serve a dual purpose in encouraging new readers to keep the pages turning; the pictures support understanding of the text and foster interest in the text. This beginning reader book has characteristics more common to books with higher reading levels: a table of contents, a picture glossary, an index, a section of related web sites, and a section listing related books. The picture glossary is conveniently located before the story, allowing readers to become familiar with new words before they encounter them in the text. The text is primarily animal identification. The pages name a farm animal—"sheep" and "cow" and "horse"—with a picture of the mentioned animal on the corresponding page. The first and last pages deviate from this picture supported pattern: "Who grows up on the farm?" and "We grow up on the farm." Young readers and their teachers and parents will appreciate the accessible yet sophisticated elements of this book for beginning readers while being captivated by the familiar baby farm animals. Reviewer: Katie DeWald