Great Deal Big Red Barn Big Book
This book is wonderful. I taught a thematic unit on The Farm and used this as my Big Book for teaching reading stratigies and introducing my unit. The book starts out with an empty field and continues to add farm animals a few at a time into the farm yard. The attention to detail is great and give opportunity to predict and develop the child's attention to detail by including hints to small additions like baby field mice. It finishes with all the animals in the barn sleeping. The children can review the animals who are sleeping in the barn and you can teach other characteristics of the animals throughout the book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who teaches children, including parents because you are your child's first teacher.
A classic - Kimberly - Virginia
I have been reading this story to my son since he was born. Two years later, he still LOVES it! So much so, that we are on our second copy. What a sweet story about barnyard animals. It's a short tale that progresses from day to night with the farm animals. As an aside, another reviewer mentioned that a butterfly is on each page. I've had fun trying to find it. Great children's book!
Beautiful but disappointingly unengaging - BostonMama - Boston, MA
I bought this book before my daughter was born, because it was such a cute, classic book for children. It's been around for ages, gets wonderful reviews, is written by the extremely prolific children's author Margaret Wise Brown, and features a toddler favorite-- farm animals! I LOVED how the illustrations shows life at the farm progress from day to night through the lighting-- the sunset page and the night page are just lovely. And I loved that it is a goodnight book, with all the farm animals asleep in the barn by the end.
Now, for the real test: My daughter. At 14 months, has several farm themed board books and, I am sad to say, this one is not her favorite by a long shot. Every time I try to read it to her, she gets bored about three pages in, and this is NOT her reaction to all books. Having watched her reaction to this and other books, these are my conculsions about why this one is not as engaging: (a) The cadence is not that great for a M.W. Brown book. It can read kind of awkwardly. (b) It is short on things like animals sounds and long on references that young toddlers cannot grasp, like references to children who are not there (but usually play there) and a golden weather vein (NO way board book age kids will understand what that is). In terms of learning about animals, pointing them out, and hearing mommy make their sounds, she much prefers other farm books (for example, My First Farm: Let's Get Working! (My First Board Books). In terms of classic toddler fiction books, she much prefers others like Baby Animals or I CAN FLY (Little Golden Book). In terms of board books, anything by Karen Katz is a bigger hit than this.
Before my daughter was born, I probably would have given this 4 stars, because I love it (despite the sometimes slightly awkward language), but I can't give it more than 3 stars, given my daughter's reaction thus far. If she changes her mind, I'll update the review. For the record, this book came up recently and my husband (not really knowing which books are "classics" that my daughter owns and which are not), deemed this book "boring." So, that's two thumbs down in our house against my one.
Rating : 5.0
Price on Sep 16, 2010 09:00:09 : $24.99
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Big Red Barn Big Book Overviews
By the big red barn
In the great green field,
There was a pink pig
Who was learning to squeal.
There were horses and sheep and goats and geese--and a jaunty old scarecrow leaning on his hoe. And they all lived together by the big red barn. In joyous and exuberant
Pictures, Felicia Bond lovingly evokes Margaret Wise Brown's simple, rhythmic text about the cycle of a day on a farm, where a family of animals peacefully plays and sleeps.
There were horses and sheep and goats and geese--and a jaunty old scarecrow leaning on his hoe. And they all lived together by the big red barn.
In joyous and exuberant pictures, Felicia Bond lovingly evokes Margarett Wise Brown's simple, rhythmic text about the cycle of a day on a farm, where a family of animals peacefully plays and sleeps.
"Brown's melodic text is beguiling, while its subject'the big red barn that houses a menagerie of animals and their offspring'will have instant appeal to young children. Bond's newly added drawings have a simplicity that suits the story [about the cycle of a day on a farm]. A welcome reprise." 'BL.
Children's Books of 1989 (Library of Congress)
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