A Night at the Farm

February 15, 2021
What goes on in the barnyard at night? The farmer has put in a full day on her farm, and she is ready for some rest. But not everyone is! "The cat gives the signal / when the farmer starts to snore. / Time to jump from the bed / and sneak out the door." The ducks dance near the barn to records spun by a rabbit DJ. The horse attempts (unsuccessfully--hooves, you know) to bake an apple crumble in the kitchen. The rabbits have a feast under the sky while the pigs take advantage of the farmer's bathroom to bathe and beautify. The goats put on a fashion show, and one of the hens performs some magic tricks. The pigs and the goats join the duck dance party, but the turkey would rather watch television (and imagine himself a crime-fighting superhero). And so on. The concept is nothing new, and the bland verse sometimes stumbles in its scansion. But the main draw is the artwork from C + C Mini Factory, a duo that creates tableaux with miniatures and then photographs them. Readers into this sort of fussy whimsy will enjoy poring over scenes of plastic animals in cute arrangements, though some are quite bare and others hard to parse, particularly when posed in front of busy backgrounds. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8.5-by-16.8-inch double-page spreads viewed at 41.4% of actual size.) A passable addition to the animals-at-night genre. (Picture book. 2-6)

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