Click, Clack, Quack to School!

June 1, 2018
"On Monday, Duck brought a letter to Farmer Brown. Some of it was written in crayon." The crayoned interpolation to the typewritten invitation to visit Dinkelmeyer Elementary School reads: "Bring the animals, too!" Farmer Brown tells the cows to get ready, setting off much stomping and mooing; killjoy Farmer Brown then tells them that "school is very quiet," which lessens their excitement. Similarly, after getting the chickens excited, Farmer Brown tells them that "school is very serious," and he tells the pigs that "school is very calm." When he finds Duck, the fowl is meditating on a yoga pillow; he is told "not to be so Duck-y." It's a solemn bunch that pulls up at school--but when the schoolyard fills with boisterous youngsters, the animals loosen right up, mooing and stomping, clucking and clapping, oinking and hollering. Duck, of course is "just Duck-y," installing himself at the principal's desk. This latest entry in the venerable series offers a few chuckles and opportunities for children to moo, cluck, and oink, but the delicious overturning of expectations earlier entries have provided here feels just as flat as the animals' emotions. Readers new to the series won't know why Duck shouldn't be "Duck-y," making that extended joke one for insiders only. Farmer Brown is white; the children, seen only on one double-page spread, are diverse, and one of them uses a wheelchair.Not ducky. (Picture book. 4-8)

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June 4, 2018
When Farmer Brown receives a letter requesting that he and the farm animals visit Dinkelmeyer Elementary School, he is excited: “He had not been to school in a very, very long time!” The cows, chickens, and pigs are eager as well, until Farmer Brown tells them “School is very serious,” and they are not to moo, cluck, or oink, which dampens their enthusiasm. Things begin “quiet, serious, and calm” as the visitors arrive, but all bets are off when the recess bell rings: “And the pigs got oinky and holler, hoot, hollered!” A conclusion shows Duck behind the principal’s desk. While the end may raise questions (was Duck the principal all along?), readers will grasp the idea that there is room at school for being serious and having fun. Ages 4–8.

August 1, 2018

PreS-Gr 1-Farmer Brown and his barnyard companions are back in the latest addition to the much-loved series. This time around, Farmer Brown and the animals are invited to Farm Day Lunch at Dinkelmeyer Elementary School. Farmer Brown can't wait, and sets off to prepare the cows, chickens, and pigs, all of whom are excited because they've never been to school. Farmer Brown, however, makes sure they all know that school is very quiet, serious, and calm, and that there is to be no stomping, clomping, or mooing; no snapping, clapping, or clucking; and no hooting, hollering, or oinking. To Duck, whom he finds meditating, Farmer Brown admonishes, '"And try not to be so Duck-y.'" On the day of their visit, everyone piles silently into Farmer Brown's truck and waits quietly in the school yard upon arriving. When the bell rings for recess, the children spill onto the playground in a riot of sound and activity, and the animals all join in the fun-except for the mice, who "read graphic novels in the shade." As in previous entries in the series, Cronin's simple text and repeated refrains invite readers to participate in the story, and Lewin's watercolor illustrations are as expressive and amusing as ever. VERDICT A breezy back-to-school offering, this title will be welcome where other books in the series are popular.-Lauren Strohecker, McKinley Elementary School, Elkins Park, PA

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