Synopsis
Spend a fact-filled day on a farm in this nonfiction easy reader!
Children learn about horses, pigs, cows, geese, sheep, and more. The text is written in easy-to-read rhymes and is illustrated with irresistible photographs. Three pages of fun learning activities are designed to both challenge and entertain new readers.
Children's Literature
The enticing cover presents many of the farm animals that kids will meet in this early reader. The format is interactive with the text asking questions. Facts are stated in a text that tends to rhyme, and then there is another piece of information presented in a box below the "Did you know?" text. It opens with sheep and then moves on to the sheepdog, who helps herd the sheep, and, as we learn in the fact box, responds to a variety of whistles, which are commands from the farmer telling his dog what to do. The pictures are excellent, and only occasionally is it difficult to see when set against the background, which is often grass. The book is really aimed at parents who want to work with their children to develop reading comprehension skills. There is a full page of instruction at the beginning and a quiz at the end to test comprehension. The closing pages contain a picture dictionary and a list of keywords that run around the page, with a challenge to use them in sentences that kids make up on their own. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot