ON THE FARM

This introduction to farm life includes a cover of layered, bubble-shaped pages of various sizes, each with an image of a farm animal peeking through.

Once a page is turned, bright stock photos of livestock, working animals and even the farmer appear in the inside. A heading introduces them (such as “In the field” for the page about sheep), and one or two simple facts are shared (“Woolly sheep roam the grassy fields”). The creatures themselves provide additional and more specific information via speech bubbles (“A baby sheep is called a lamb,” a lamb confides). One section of each spread still retains the image that is visible from the cover and hints at what is coming next on the verso. This iteration of the Seek and Peek gimmick of shaped pages is more successful than others in the series such At the Zoo, In the Rainforest and Dinosaurs, with their confusing layouts. Here, the strong background color of each spread helps differentiate the information in question from the images of things to come. The last double-page spread shows a tractor and a combine harvester and shares a couple of tidbits about farmyard machinery. The novel format will make it difficult for spine-out shelving in libraries and elsewhere.

With short facts about pigs, chickens, cattle, horses and more, there is just enough to be of interest to the youngest animal enthusiast.