Funny Farm

by David Doepker

This cute board book is just close-ups of animal faces, all living on a farm. It's the captions that make it so amusing- the horse curling his lip is proclaimed to tell jokes, the cross-looking chickens are declared "pushy", a goat posed regally and shot from a low angle is touted as being "as big as the sky." The "happy hog" really does have a big smile on its face; the only picture that doesn't really seem to fit is the shaggy sheep- he's really not that shaggy. I've seen ones with much longer wool! Regardless, it's really cute and flows with singsong phrases that introduce kids to animals attributed with recognizable emotions or personalities. The pictures are big and bold, which makes it really attractive to my little one.

rating: 4/5 ........ 16 pages, 2004