Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
My Barnyard: A Read and play book
Illustrator: John Bendall-Brunello
Novelty Board Book
For ages 2 to 4
Scholastic, 2015 ISBN: 978-0545690775
Farms and farm animals appear in many children’s stories. There is something about pigs, horses, cows, sheep, barns and tractors that young children find attractive. They like making the noises farm animals make, and many grownups have watched as their children have pretended to be a farmer or a farm animal.
In this unique novelty board book children will find a farmyard world that they can visit. On the first page they are told that the animals in the farmyard have “something to say.” When they turn the page they see a delightful farmyard scene. There is a chicken coop in a field, and four little chicks are running towards their mother. There is a problem though. There is a space in the page where their mother should be. Children can complete the picture by placing the cut-out chicken that comes with the book into the space. The chicken is not the only animal missing on the page. Some lambs are in the same field but their mother is not there either. Once again children can use the included animal cut-out to put the mother sheep where she belongs with her family.
In addition to the illustrations and the spaces that need to be filled, every spread in this book includes sections of text that describe the animals that are featured on the pages. Children will learn the sounds that each of the animals make, and they will also learn some facts about the animals; facts such as “Sheep are fluffy and eat grass,” and “Goats have horns and scruffy beards.”
At the back of the book children get the chance to place all the cut-out animal characters (six in number) in another scene.
This is the perfect book to take on a trip or outing. The cu-out animal characters are attached to the book by lengths of colored ribbon so that they cannot get lost, and they can be placed in their farm world again and again.
