Farmyard Beat

by Lindsey Craig, Marc Brown (Illustrator)

Overview

Author Lindsey Craig teams up with Arthur creator and bestselling artist Marc Brown in a toe-tapping farmyard dance-a-thon—perfect for toddler and preschooler read-alouds. As soon as the sun goes down, the animals are up! ("Sheep can't sleep. Sheep can't sleep. Sheep can't sleep 'cause they got that beat!") Before long, there's a giant farmyard dance party, complete with funny animal sounds. But what happens when all the racket wakes up Farmer Sue? Here's a colorful bedtime story that begs to be read aloud.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780375988868
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	06/14/2011
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	8 MB
Age Range:	1 - 4 Years

About the Author

LINDSEY CRAIG lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington, with her family. Her first book, Dancing Feet!, is also available from Knopf.

MARC BROWN is the creator of Arthur, the star of many picture books and a six-time Emmy Award-winning PBS TV show. He is also the illustrator of the New York Times bestselllers Wild About Books and Born to Read by Judy Sierra as well as Buying, Training, & Caring for Your Dinosaur by Laura Rennert.

Editorial Reviews

From the "Peep-peep-peep!" of a yellow chick peering out of its egg on the first page, through the inevitable chiming-in of an entire farm's worth of animals, to the book's conclusion with animals piled up in an exhausted, snoring heap, Farmyard Beat jauntily pulls readers along. Toddlers will need zero encouragement to participate.
—The New York Times

Pamela Paul

PreS-K—Craig and Brown, creators of Dancing Feet! (Knopf, 2010), have produced another toe-tapper starring a cast of jubilant farm animals. The creatures can't sleep because "they got that beat." The chicks begin the party, waking the sheep. Soon the cat, cows, and dog join in on the fun. The residents of the farmyard make quite a racket. "Peep! Peep! Peep-peep-peep!" chirp the chicks. "Puuurrrr! Mee-ooow!" says the cat, while Hank, the dog, "How—wooooo!'s" and the cows "Swish!" and "Clank!" as they frolic. When the owl gives a warning, the dancers suspend the festivities for a breathless moment and Sue, the young farmer, approaches. Luckily, she can't resist the beat, and everyone dances until "they fall in a heap! Asleep!" Brown's cheerful collage illustrations enliven the rhyming verse. Each spread features a variety of shapes, textures, and patterns. The smiling characters, constructed from geometric shapes of hand-painted paper, cavort over the verdant lawn against a shadowy background of deep blue stripes. Pair this syncopated title with another comical barnyard story, Doreen Cronin's Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (S & S, 2000), for a fun-filled bedtime storyhour.—Linda L. Walkins, Mount Saint Joseph Academy, Brighton, MA

School Library Journal

When the sun goes down, the farmyard animals are supposed to go to sleep. But wait: "Chicks can't sleep. Chicks can't sleep. / Chicks can't sleep / 'cause they got the beat!"

The sheep, cat, cow and dog can't sleep either because they've got the beat, too. Here comes Farmer Sue, and she can't sleep either, so everyone dances to the beat, "T-I-L-L... / ... they fall in a heap! / Asleep!" The collage art (hand-painted on corrugated-looking and other found papers) is similar to the duo'sDancing Feet!(2010) and a total departure from Brown's style in his Arthur books. The jazzed-up animals are shaped with textured cut-out pieces that form the assemblage, which pops against the black-and-purple striped backgrounds. Colors are largely those found in nature, though judicious use of pinks on noses, tongues and the insides of ears keep the figures from looking anything but dull; they definitely have child appeal. The story ends with the rooster (a spectacle in blue, lavender and crimson) crowing, "Cock-a-doodle-doo! / I've got the beat!"

It won't take but one or two readings before kids join right in with the syncopated fun.(Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews