Sheep

Children's Literature

The covers of the books in this series "Animals that Live on the Farm," which is a subset of the larger series of "Weekly Reader-Early Learning Library Books," are quite engaging. The featured animal is peering out at the reader through an open pocket in a pair of denim jeans. It is indicative of the design of these books, which is attractive with large type in an easy to read font, and bright clear photographs that have kid appeal. The introductory note sums up the focus of each book in the series, "to help children read about the behavior and life cycles of farm animals." The text is definitely more engaging than others of the same ilk. A baby lamb drinks its mother's milk and later will eat grass, but in winter if they move. A mother knows her own lamb by its smell. Important words are bolded, but they are not the ones defined in the glossary-kids will need to look elsewhere if they don't get the meaning from the text. There are additional books listed for more information but no dates are given and only one web site is listed. There is an index and a write-up about the author. 2005, Weekly Reader-Early Learning Library, Ages 4 to 7.
—Marilyn Courtot