Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom
Ag-Related Books for Children and Young Adults
Farm Animals
Farm Animals in Fiction and Fantasy
Nonfiction Books About Farm Animals
Farm Animals / Bison / Cattle and Calves / Dairy Cattle / Goats / Horses / Poultry / Sheep / Swine
Easton, Patricia Harrison, and Herb Ferguson, A Week at the Fair: A County Celebration, Millbrook, 1995. (Grades PreK-1)Detailed account of the care and judging of animals at a county fair, as told by a young 4-H'er showing her pig and the family's horse. Nice photographs and a great deal of text. |
Everett, Felicity, Farm Animals, EDC, 1994. (Preschool)Simple facts about cattle, pigs, sheep, horses, goats, chicken, and ducks. |
Lavis, Steve, Cock a Doodle Doo: A Farmyard Counting Book, Ragged Bears, 2001. (Preschool)One rooster crows to wake everyone up, then two horses neigh, and others join in until the farm is filled with squeaks, moos, clucks and more from ten different kinds of animals. |
Lester, Alison, My Farm, Houghton-Mifflin, 1994. (Grades K-3)Recollections of life on an Australian farm, with summer days filled with driving cattle, picking blackberries and taking a swim. Australian autumn brings new calves, rainstorms and mushrooms after a winter spent doing chores. Springtime is spent baling hay. Great water color illustrations and matter of fact details include butchering of animals as just another event of the farm year. |
Provensen, Alice, and Martin Provensen, The Year at Maple Hill Farm, Sagebrush, 2001. (K-3)In January, the cows stay in the barnyard, and the chickens don't lay many eggs. By March, you can tell spring is coming: the barn is filled with baby animals. Month by month, the animals at Maple Hill Farm sense the changing seasons and respond to the changes. |
Sill, Cathryn, and John Sill, About Mammals: A Guide for Children, Peachtree, 1998. (Grades preK-3)This volume introduces mammals to young children. Each spread has a full-color painting of one or several animals and a facing page that is white except for a few words of text and an identification of the animal illustrated. Simple yet varied in composition, the paintings are realistic in depicting the colors and forms of the wildlife as well as the animals' activities. |
Walsh, Melanie, Do Pigs Have Stripes? Houghton Mifflin, 1996. (Grades preK-3)Colorful, quirky illustrations and entertaining questions provide young children with an introduction to the animal world as they discover the special characteristics of such animals as the pig, the zebra, and a monkey. |
Williams, Garth (illustrator), Baby Farm Animals (A Little Golden Book Classic), Golden, 2003. (Grades PreK-2) |
Lester, Alison, My Farm, Houghton-Mifflin, 1994. (Grades K-3)Recollections of life on an Australian farm, with summer days filled with driving cattle, picking blackberries and taking a swim. Australian autumn brings new calves, rainstorms and mushrooms after a winter spent doing chores. Springtime is spent baling hay. Great water color illustrations and matter of fact details include butchering of animals as just another event of the farm year. |
Patrick, Jean LS, and Alvis Upitis, Cows, Cats and Kids: A Veterinarian's Family at Work, Boyd's Mills, 2003. (Grades 4-6)During the day and a half covered in this photo-essay, Shea helps her father "pull" a calf (assist a cow with a difficult birth), and Kendall spends a morning with him vaccinating calves. Later in the day, Catherine assists with spaying a cat and removing the dewclaws from some puppies. The author explains and clarifies these unfamiliar procedures without losing the flow of the narrative. The full-color photographs complement and complete the story. |
Pukite, John, A Field Guide to Cows, Scholastic, 1998.John Pukite provides all the facts so even the novice can identify and get to know America’s 52 breeds of cattle. Every entry in this entertaining yet completely usable book features an illustration that highlights each breed’s most easily identifiable traits, such as coloration pattern and body shape. The book includes a checklist of breeds, a glossary of terms, a listing of breeder associations, and more. Fascinating cow trivia is interspersed throughout. |
Wolfman, Judy, and David Lorenz Winston, Life on a Cattle Farm, Lerner, 2002 (Grades K-4)This series entry introduces Adam Smith, who lives on a small beef cattle farm in Pennsylvania, and the narrative presents easy-to-understand information about raising these animals. The facts are general to all cattle breeds, although the Smiths raise 50 polled Herefords. Most of the animals are sold, so the concentration is on raising healthy breeding cattle. The descriptions of breeding, birth, vaccination, and castration are briefly explained for young readers. The simplicity will be appreciated by city children, while rural children may find it too limited. One detail is not quite correct. After cleaning out the barn, readers are told that "hay" was spread on the floor as bedding. Straw is usually used for bedding, and hay is used as feed. Sharp, clear, full-color photos appear on every page. |
Hoyt-Goldsmith, Diane, and Lawrence Migdale, Buffalo Days, Holiday House, 1997. (Grades 4-6)Portrait of a young Crow Indian boy - Clarence Three Irons, Jr., a.k.a. Indian - living in Lodge Grass, Montana. Indian's father raises cattle and horses, and manages the Crow buffalo herd. The buffalo has always been a critical element in Crow culture and the herd's return from near- extinction is an important link for the Crow with their past. The ways in which the Crow have preserved and extended their cultural heritage is Hoyt-Goldsmith's focus, including the annual round-up reflecting the grand buffalo days - the fair and rodeo offering a chance to build and camp in tipis, don ceremonial garb, and attend to sacred dances. |
Aliki, Milk: From Cow to Carton, Econo-Clad, 1999. (Grades PreK - 3)Aliki takes readers on a guided tour that begins with grazing cows, proceeds through milking and a trip to the dairy, and ends with some different foods made from milk. |
Kalman, Bobbie, Hooray for Dairy Farming, Crabtree, 1997. (Grades K-3) |
Ling, Mary, See How They Grow: Calf , DK, 1993.The calf narrates her story from birth to one and a half or two years of age, when they give birth. Clear, candid full-color photos of the animals are very expressive. All are placed on a white background, creating a spacious, uncluttered effect. Each spread has a brief chapter heading and is decorated with miniature drawings at the top and bottom. The text, which totals five to seven sentences per chapter, is strategically placed beside the appropriate pictures. The amount of information is limited, but in terms of eye appeal and ease of understanding for those youngsters who are just beginning to experience the thrill of reading independently, these titles are an overwhelming success. |
Miller, Heather, My Cows, Children's, 2000. (PreK-3) |
Older, Jules, and Lyn Severance, Cow, Charlesbridge, 1998.Ever wondered why an ice-cream sundae isn't called an ice-cream Thursday? Having trouble telling a Jersey from a Holstein? Confused about the difference between a cow and a bull? COW has the answers and much, much more. |
Pukite, John, A Field Guide to Cows, Scholastic, 1998.John Pukite provides all the facts so even the novice can identify and get to know America’s 52 breeds of cattle. Every entry in this entertaining yet completely usable book features an illustration that highlights each breed’s most easily identifiable traits, such as coloration pattern and body shape. The book includes a checklist of breeds, a glossary of terms, a listing of breeder associations, and more. Fascinating cow trivia is interspersed throughout. |
Ray, Hannah, Cows (Down on the Farm), Crabtree, 2008. (Grades PreK-2) |
Ray, Hannah, Goats (Down on the Farm), Crabtree, 2008. (Grades PreK-2) |
Wolfman, Judy, and David Lorenz Winston, Life on a Goat Farm, Lerner, 2002 (Grades K-4)An accurate and interesting view of modern rural life. Written in the voice of a young goat farmer, the narrative begins with descriptions and characteristics of six dairy goat breeds in the U.S. The following pages explain breeding; birthing; and care of the kids, including vaccinations, vitamins, dehorning, weaning, and feeding. Other chapters cover milking, and the responsibilities of the farm family-hard work 365 days a year. In closing, Jimmy talks about the activities that he and his brothers enjoy. As for his future, he "might be a goat farmer-or a math teacher or maybe even a veterinarian." Clear, full-color photographs of the Search family and their animals fill the pages. Short captions provide additional information and explanation. |
Clutton-Brock, Juliet, Eyewitness: Horse, DK, 2000. (Grades 3-6)Each double-page spread contains a brief theme paragraph that describes the topic, along with captioned photos of horses, reproductions of the animal found in art and artifacts, and related equestrian gear. Subjects include history, anatomy, physiology, breeds, colors, and uses of horses, asses, mules, and zebras. |
Easton, Patricia Harrison, and Herb Ferguson, A Week at the Fair: A County Celebration. (Grades 3-6)Detailed account of the care and judging of animals at a county fair, as told by a young 4-H'er showing her pig and the family's horse. Nice photographs and a great deal of text. |
Gibbons, Gail, Horses, Holiday House, 2003. (Grades K-3)A historical overview of Eohippus' evolution and horse appearance, disappearance and reappearance on the North American continent introduces the book. Discussion of the three basic horse sizes, characteristics and terminology (withers, hands, flank, quarters, fetlock), a double page spread about horse feet and horseshoes, followed by a discussion of gait, teeth, and habits suits the curious as well as report writers. Birth of a foal and its growth into a yearling is also covered. Throughout the full color illustrations, Gibbons uses various breeds of horse to discuss general characteristics and labels the breed so that young readers can learn names or ignore them in pursuit of generalities. A table of some well-known purebred horses and another of entertainment events horses typically appear in round out the information. |
Kalman, Bobbie, and Heather Levigne, What is a Horse? (The Science of Living Things), Crabtree, 2001. (Grades 3-6) |
Lauber, Patricia, The True or False Book of Horses, HarperCollins, 2000. (Grades K-3)Discover what's fact and what's fiction about horses with this introduction to the history, anatomy, and behavior of an animal that changed human history. |
Ling, Mary, See How They Grow: Foal , DK, 1992.The horse narrates her story from birth to one and a half or two years of age, when they give birth. Clear, candid full-color photos of the animals are very expressive. All are placed on a white background, creating a spacious, uncluttered effect. Each spread has a brief chapter heading and is decorated with miniature drawings at the top and bottom. The text, which totals five to seven sentences per chapter, is strategically placed beside the appropriate pictures. The amount of information is limited, but in terms of eye appeal and ease of understanding for those youngsters who are just beginning to experience the thrill of reading independently, these titles are an overwhelming success. |
Needham, Kate, and Lucy Smith, The Usborne Riding School, Usborne, 1997. (Grades 4-7) |
Smith, L, The Usborne Book of Horses and Ponies, Usborne, 1995. (Grades K-3)Basic board book primer on horses and ponies which teaches first facts about the animals for the very young. Large-size, realistic drawings and easy text teach beginners. |
Tucker, Louise, Eyewitness Visual Dictionaries: Horse, Dorling Kindersley, 1994. (Grades 4-7)Novices and knowledgeable enthusiasts will discover a feast for the eyes on each page of this pictorial study. Along with spreads detailing the animal's anatomy, there are two double-page spreads illustrated with full-color photographs of the various breeds, divided into light and heavy horses. Following this overview, the guide briefly focuses on the care and activities of equines today, including grooming, shoeing, racing, jumping, and equipment. A comprehensive index allows for quick access to the striking, clearly labeled illustrations and photos. |
Wolfman, Judy, and David Lorenz Winston, Life on a Horse Farm, Lerner, 2002 (Grades K-4)This attractive book is narrated by Sarah Mills, whose family raises racehorses. Her father manages Willow Tree Farm, overseeing the daily operations and the training of the colts, while Sarah, her brother, and mother help out with other tasks. After a brief introduction, Wolfman's matter-of-fact text explains that the farm stables mares for clients and breeds them with the hope of producing fine racehorses. A mare in heat, breeding, and birth are discussed in a straightforward manner, but without much detail. Weaning, daily care, training, and gelding are also covered. Most of the full-color photographs are of high quality (a couple are a bit grainy) and their captions add interest and information. The format is inviting. The book concludes with a page of fun facts. Reminiscent of earlier Cheryl Bellville titles, this one is sure to be enjoyed by horse lovers. |
Burton, Robert, Egg, a Photographic Story of Hatching, Dorling Kindersley, 1994. (Grades K-3)More than five hundred full-color, life-size, sequential photographs, with captions and text, explain the story of bird, reptile, insect, fish, and amphibian development, from the initial signs of growth through the struggle to hatch. |
Gibbons, Gail, Chicks and Chickens, Holiday House, 2000. (Grades K-3)Diagrams, definitions of such words as flock, breed, rooster, and gizzard, and close-up views help viewers and readers understand more about raising chickens. Gibbons informs readers that a chicken can lay unfertilized eggs as well as fertilized, shows the development of chicks within the shell, and indicates how some chicks are raised under artificial conditions. A double-page spread shows different breeds, cutaways show the function of a gizzard, and the development of an egg within a hen. While the book is more complex than many preschoolers and kindergartners are used to, it suits perfectly those farm units where children's questions can be easily answered. |
Ling, Mary, See How They Grow: Duck , DK, 2001.The duck narrates her story from birth to one and a half or two years of age, when they give birth. Clear, candid full-color photos of the animals are very expressive. All are placed on a white background, creating a spacious, uncluttered effect. Each spread has a brief chapter heading and is decorated with miniature drawings at the top and bottom. The text, which totals five to seven sentences per chapter, is strategically placed beside the appropriate pictures. The amount of information is limited, but in terms of eye appeal and ease of understanding for those youngsters who are just beginning to experience the thrill of reading independently, these titles are an overwhelming success. |
Molleson, Diane, and Dwight Kuhn, How Ducklings Grow, Scholastic, 1993.Full-color photos and informative, accessible text introduce preschoolers to a family of ducklings, following their growth from hatching until maturity. |
Ray, Hannah, Chickens (Down on the Farm), Crabtree, 2008. (Grades PreK-2) |
Ray, Hannah, Ducks (Down on the Farm), Crabtree, 2008. (Grades PreK-2) |
Sharpe, Susan, Chicken Bucks, Simon & Schuster Children's, 1992. (Grades 3-5)With no extra cash to buy a calf to raise for his 4-H project, 12-year-old Mark Swenson purchases 50 chickens. With the encouragement of his 4-H leader and the cooperation of his friend Emma, he is successful. |
Lester, Alison, My Farm, Houghton-Mifflin, 1994. (Grades K-3)Recollections of life on an Australian farm, with summer days filled with driving cattle, picking blackberries and taking a swim. Australian autumn brings new calves, rainstorms and mushrooms after a winter spent doing chores. Springtime is spent baling hay. Great water color illustrations and matter of fact details include butchering of animals as just another event of the farm year. |
Lyon, George Ella, Weaving the Rainbow, Atheneum/Richard Jackson, 2004. (Grades PreK-2)A young woman raises sheep, shears them, cards and spins the wool, dyes the yarn, and weaves it at a loom. Terms like "yearling," "skein," "warp," "weft," "shuttle," and "treadles" are understandable in context and bring richness to the text. Words and illustrations complement each other in evoking the essence of creating art and in portraying the lush countryside. In her skillfully composed watercolor artwork, Anderson directs readers' eyes and shows them what to focus on. The paintings, with their dose of impressionism, effectively depict textures, but they can also suggest steam or wind. The final spread reveals what the woman is weaving: a picture of her sheep in their pasture, to which an illustration on the dedication page alluded earlier. |
Millen, C.M., and Mary Azarian, A Symphony for the Sheep, Houghton Mifflin, 1996. (Grades 1-3)Set in Ireland, this story follows the steps by which a sheep's woolly coat is transformed into cloth and sweaters. |
Nelson, Robin, From Sheep to Sweater: A Start to Finish Book, Lerner, 2003. (Grades PreK-2) |
Ray, Hannah, Sheep (Down on the Farm), Crabtree, 2008. (Grades PreK-2) |
Sanders, Scott R., Warm as Wool, Bradbury, 1992. (Grades K-3)Living in the Ohio wilderness in 1804, Betsy Ward sets out to build a flock of sheep and, despite predation, illness, and death, manages to create warm clothing for her children. |
Seeger, Laura Vaccaro, First the Egg, Roaring Brook, 2007, (Grades PreK-2)The book opens with an egg cutout, which, with a page turn, becomes a plump yellow chick; tadpole morphs into frog; seed grows into flower. A daub of pigment similarly evolves into a painted landscape incorporating chicken, frog and flower. Seeger’s final pages bring us full circle: the chicken returns to its nest and lays “the egg!” |
Easton, Patricia Harrison, and Herb Ferguson, A Week at the Fair: A County Celebration, Millbrook, 1995. (Grades 3-6)Detailed account of the care and judging of animals at a county fair, as told by a young 4-H'er showing her pig and the family's horse. Nice photographs and a great deal of text. |
Gibbons, Gail, Pigs, Holiday House, 2003. (Grades K-3)Basic characteristics, common breeds, intelligence, behavior, life cycle, and uses of pigs are presented in a colorful and readable format. Topics include the history of the domestication of the pig, the use of pigs to locate truffles, the birth and growth of pigs, and the uses of pigs for food and leather. Gibbons also debunks common myths about pigs: "Many people think pigs are smelly and dirty. They think pigs 'eat like pigs' and aren't very smart. That's because they don't know pigs!" We learn that there are about 300 breeds of pigs, that pigs are very smart, have good hearing, poor eyesight, beautiful, long eyelashes, and can run as fast as 30 miles per hour. |
Ling, Mary, See How They Grow: Pig, DK, 1993.The pig narrates her story from birth to one and a half or two years of age, when they give birth. Clear, candid full-color photos of the animals are very expressive. All are placed on a white background, creating a spacious, uncluttered effect. Each spread has a brief chapter heading and is decorated with miniature drawings at the top and bottom. The text, which totals five to seven sentences per chapter, is strategically placed beside the appropriate pictures. The amount of information is limited, but in terms of eye appeal and ease of understanding for those youngsters who are just beginning to experience the thrill of reading independently, these titles are an overwhelming success. |
Older, Jules, and Lyn Severance, Pig, Charlesbridge, 2004.Information ranges from number of pigs in the world and different breeds to fun trivia. Older's text is humorous and material is often presented in the form of a question. Bright, cheery illustrations depict pigs on farms in Indiana, in bamboo forests in China, and even, in the case of the Vietnamese Potbelly, on a boy's lap in a family home. Quirky drawings show a pig on a motorcycle (or a pig on a Hog) and one in Denmark reading stories by Hans Christian Andersen. The artist includes illustrated maps of the regions of the world where these animals live. |
Palatini, Margie, and Henry Cole, Oink? Simon and Schuster, 2006. (Grades Pre-K-2)Two hens, a rabbit, and a duck are disgusted with Thomas and Joseph's messy pigpen (and the food they eat). But when the hens propose that the pigs paint the pigpen fence, the pigs prove so clumsy that the hens paint it themselves. So too with picking vegetables and digging a water hole for the pigs to bathe in. |
Pukite, John, A Field Guide to Pigs, Globe Pequot, 1999.Easy-to-understand descriptions and illustrations of more than 30 breeds of pigs. The field guide also includes a time line of pig history, a list of famous and remarkable pigs, pig quotes, and much, much more. |
Ray, Hannah, Pigs (Down on the Farm), Crabtree, 2008. (Grades PreK-2) |
Wolfman, Judy, and David Lorenz Winston, Life on a Pig Farm, Lerner, 2002 (Grades K-4)Alisha, the oldest of three sisters who live on Maple Lane Farm, narrates this photo-essay about the day-to-day activities involved in raising pigs. The events surrounding the birth of a litter of pigs is the highlight, with lots of great pictures of the newborn and a careful description of how the babies are cared for in the moments and weeks after birth. Most of the remaining text follows the girls as they do the chores associated with raising pigs. Color photographs capture the spirit and dedication of the three youngsters, whose hard work and willingness to accept responsibility will gain the admiration of readers. Because the family's involvement in pig farming began as a 4-H project for Alisha, Wolfman concludes with a page of information on 4-H. |
Farm Animals in Fantasy and Fiction
Farm Animals / Cows / Horses / Poultry / Sheep / Swine
Cronin, Doreen, and Betsy Lewin, Giggle, Giggle, Quack, Simon and Schuster, 2002. (Grades pre-K-3)Farmer Brown goes on vacation, leaving his brother Bob handwritten instructions on how to care for the animals. The trouble is that Duck intervenes. He has a pencil in his beak, so the messages instruct Bob to order in pizza for the animals, wash the pigs in a bubble bath, and rent the movie "The Sound of Moosic." Eventually, poor Bob runs away. Lewin's big illustrations with thick black outlines do a great job of showing close-up cows and pigs happily lolling on the sofa, splashing in the bathroom, and making themselves right at home. |
Ehlert, Lois, Color Farm, Harpercollins, 1997. (Preschool)Using vibrant colors and die-cuts this book creates the visages of various farm animals. The book appeals to babies and young toddlers and introduces them to various shapes and colors. |
Fleming, Denise, Barnyard Banter, Henry Holt, 2001. (Preschool)Roosters, cows, crows, hens, kittens, etc., noisly go about their barnyard business except for Goose, who silently flits through each scene chasing an elusive butterfly. She finally makes herself heard on the last double-page spread. Strong rhythm and rhyme, plus fun onomatopoeic animal sounds, demand reading aloud. The llustrations were created by pouring cotton pulp through hand-cut stencils. They create realistically textured, bold, bright settings for the whimsical critters to romp through. |
Grave, Marc, and Grace Goldberg, Farm Animals, McClanahan, 1997. (Board Book) |
Most, Bernard, Cock a Doodle Moo, Harcourt Brace, 1996. (Grades K-3)When the rooster wakes up with laryngitis, he must quickly think of how to awaken the farm animals. Maybe the cow can take his place. The cow tries "Mock-a-moodle-moo!" "Sock-a-noodle-moo!" And finally, "Cock-a-doodle-MOO!" And the ducks, the pigs, and the other farm animals wake up laughing. |
O'Malley, Kevin, Gimme Cracked Corn and I Will Share, Walker Books for Young Readers, 2007. (Grades PreK-2)Corny one-liners drive this slapstick fantasy, as two featherbrained hens cross the road to follow their dreams. |
Seeger, Laura Vacarro, and Pete Seeger, I Had a Rooster: A Traditional Folk Song, Viking, 2001. (PreK)This song in book form introduces new creatures on successively smaller pages, while cumulative lines from previously printed verses show through below. The melody line is included. |
Sloat, Teri, and Nadine Bernard Westcott, Farmer Brown Goes Round and Round, DK, 1999. (Grades K-2)A twister strikes Farmer Brown's farm and mixes the animals all up, so that the cows oinked, sheep clucked, hens brayed, and his hound neighed. |
Williams, Linda, Horse in the Pigpen, HarperCollins, 2002. (Grades K-3)Something very strange is happening on this little farm. None of the animals are where they belong! The only person who can sort it all out is Ma -- but Ma is terribly busy. What will the animals and one puzzled little girl do if Ma never has time to get everything back the way it's supposed to be? |
Wong, Herbert Yee, Mrs. Brown Went to Town, Houghton Mifflin, 1996. (Grades K-3)After a collision with a terrier and a fire hydrant lands Mrs. Brown in the hospital, her barnyard friends unanimously vote to move into her house. Domestic mayhem ensues as a cow, two pigs, three ducks, and a yak wreak havoc from one end of her A-frame to the other. The watercolors are rich with details amd patterns. They feature such absurd charms as a yak struggling with a blow-dryer, a cow wearing a toilet plunger, and bed-jumping Olympics. |
Cronin, Doreen, and Betsy Lewin, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, Simon and Schuster, 2000. (Grades K-3)The cows on Farmer Brown's farm have discovered a typewriter. Soon, they're leaving notes for him demanding blankets to keep warm. But when he refuses to give in, they go on strike. Can a solution be found to return the cows to work? |
Denslow, Sharon Phillips, and Lynne Rae Perkins, Georgie Lee, Greenwillow, 2002 (Grades 3-6)Georgie Lee is Grandma's cow, a smart cow, surprising J. D. with how cleverly she gets rid of pesky flies. She's good at escaping her pasture, ending up on Grandma's porch eating ears of fresh corn out of a bowl. And she's the ghost that startles Grandma and J.D. as they explore an abandoned house. But best of all, she's the reason elderly neighbor Effie is saved after a fall leaves her stranded in a field. |
Edens, Cooper, Santa Cows, Simon and Schuster, 1991. (All ages)As this parody of ``The Night Before Christmas'' opens, the family is enjoying a Christmas feast of pizza, popcorn and microwaved eel and clam cakes: ``When all of a sudden, not the sound of reindeers, / But the mooing of Santa Cows came to our ear. / So we ran to the windows and opened the shutters. / We threw up the blinds to a sky full of udders.'' The Santa Cows, with eyes ``like Liz Taylor's,'' are coming and bringing with them a beautiful tree, a concert of carols and equipment for a Christmas Day baseball game. |
Erickson, John R., The Original Adventures of Hank, the Cowdog, Puffin, 1999. (Grades 4-7)Hank the Cowdog, head of ranch security, is framed for the murder of a chicken and becomes an outlaw with the coyotes. |
French, Vivian, Oliver's Milk Shake, Orchard, 2001. (Grades Prek-3)Oliver is a picky eater, but his Aunt Jen is determined to change his ways. Oliver learns to like milk through a visit to the farm and Aunt Jen's yummy milk shakes. |
Hall, Donald, The Milkman's Boy, Walker, 1997. (K-4)Paul Graves is coming of age during a time when horses and carriages shared roads with Model Ts, and new technology changed old ways of doing things. His father calls the new invention of pasteurization nothing but a fad . . . until one day a fever strikes Paul's sister, and his family learns a hard lesson about the need to balance change and tradition. |
Jackson, Woody, A Cow's Alfalfa-Bet, Harcourt Brace, 1995. (Preschool - Grade 1)The author has created 26 beautiful watercolor paintings - one for each letter of the alphabet, from alfalfa to zucchini. Most of the items representing the letters will be familiar to children - dog, garden, moon, and tractor. The few unfamiliar things like alfalfa and Xanadu will stimulate questions, explanation, and discussion. |
Johnson, Paul Brett, The Cow Who Wouldn't Come Down, Orchard, 1993. (K-2)Miss Rosemary knows her cow, Gertrude, has a mind of her own. But when Gertrude takes up a new hobby, Miss Rosemary is faced with a problem: how do you milk a flying cow? |
Laden, Nina, When Pigasso Met Mootisse, Chronicle, 1998. (Grades 2-4)Pigasso, a talented pig, and Mootisse, an artistic bull, live across the road from one another, but when conflicts arise they build fences that ultimately become modern art masterpieces. Includes biographies of the real-life artists, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. |
Townsend, Una Belle, Bob Artley and Yolanda Powell, Grady's in the Silo, Pelican, 2003 (K-3)Based on the true story of Grady, the silo cow from Yukon, OK. Activities for use with Grady's in the Silo. The book's author is Una Belle Townsend, and teacher and school librarian from El Reno. |
Wheeler, Lisa, and Ponder Goembel, Sailor Moo: Cow at Sea, Atheneum, 2002. (Grades PreK-2)Compelled to follow her dreams, dairy cow Moo leaves behind the farm's fields of waving wheat for the rollicking waves of the ocean. A stint as galley cook to the feline crew of the Cat's Meow is cut short by a storm that tosses Moo "into the brew" where she is quickly rescued by a pair of her cousins, the sea cows, and escorted to a cattle barge. But the gang with studded ears on board turns out to be a bunch of "looting steers cow buccaneers." Luckily Moo wins the heart of captain Red Angus and encourages him to abandon his pirate ways for married life on the Jersey shore. |
Friedrich, Elizabeth, and Michael Garland, Leah's Pony, Boyds Mills, 1996. (Grades K-3)Amid the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, Leah's father is faced with the loss of the family farm and puts his farm and equipment up for auction, but Leah comes up with the money by selling her beloved pony. |
Goble, Paul, The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, Aladdin, 1993. (K-2)For most people, being swept away in a horse stampede during a raging thunderstorm would be a terrifying disaster. For the young Native American girl in Paul Gobl''s 1979 Caldecott-winning masterpiece, The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, it is a blessing. Although she loves her people, this girl has a much deeper, almost sacred, connection to her equine friends. The storm gives her the opportunity to fulfill her dream -to live in a beautiful land among the wild horses she loves. With brilliant, stylized illustrations and simple text, Paul Goble tells the story of a young woman who follows her heart and the family that respects and accepts her uniqueness. |
Gregory, Kristiana, The Legend of Jimmy Spoon, Odyssey, 1993 (Grades 4-7).Twelve-year-old Jimmy Spoon yearns for a life of adventure. So when two Shoshoni boys offer him a horse, Jimmy sneaks away from his family in Salt Lake City to follow the boys. When Jimmy arrives at the Shoshoni camp, he discovers that he is expected to stay - as a member of the tribe. Inspired by the memoirs of a white man who actually lived with Chief Washakie's tribe as a boy in the mid-1800s, The Legend of Jimmy Spoon is a compelling coming-of-age adventure. |
Haas, Jessie, Beware the Mare, Greenwillow, 1993 (Grades 4-7).Lily and her mother live on a farm with Gran and horse-trader Gramp. When he brings home a new mare, he is suspicious of her name, "Beware," and supervises Lily's actions around her. As the two of them investigate how Beware got her name, Gramp communicates useful handling tips and Lily falls in love with her seemingly perfect horse. Beware ends the mystery in a somewhat disappointing scene; she demands to have her itchy belly scratched when blackflies bother her. Told in the third-person, the book will capture young horse lovers with its believable characters and realistic dialogue. Simple vocabulary and short sentences make it accessible for transitional or slow readers. |
Henry, Marguerite, Brighty of the Grand Canyon, Macmillan, 1991. (Grades 4-7)Henry, Marguerite, King of the Wind, Macmillan, 1990. (Grades 4-7)Henry, Marguerite, Misty of Chincoteague, Macmillan, 1990. (Grades 4-7)Henry, Marguerite, Misty's Twilight, Macmillan, 1992. (Grades 4-7)Henry, Marguerite, Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West, Macmillan, 1992. (Grades 4-7)Henry, Marguerite, Sea Star: Orphan of Chincoteague, Macmillan, 1991. (Grades 4-7) |
Leigh, Susannah, Runaway Pony, Usborne, 1997. (Grades 4-7)When the riderless palomino pony clatters into the yard, no one is more surprised that Jess. Hot on the pony's hooves comes a man waving a halter. Jess helps him catch the pony and waves them on their way. Little is she to know the far-reaching consequences her simple actions will have. |
Auch, Mary Jane, Bantam of the Opera, Holiday, 1997. (picture book, Grades K-3)Luigi, the barnyard bantam rooster, is bored with plain old "Cock-a-doodle-do." He has aspirations of arias. His favorite is "La donna ? mobile" from Rigoletto. He loves singing it: "Cock-a-la- DOOdle-lay! Cock-a-la-DOOdle-low!" and he may have his shot at becoming a contender, if theoOpera's jealous tenor doesn't carry through with his threat to carve him into cacciatore! |
Brett, Jan, Daisy Comes Home, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2002, G.P. Putnam's Sons.Mei-Mei had the six happiest hens in China. She gave them treats and fresh hay baths, and when she called to them-gu gu gu gu gu!-they all ran to her as fast as they could. But one of the hens, Daisy, was not always so happy. The other hens picked on Daisy and pushed her off the perch every night. Then one day, Daisy is accidentally washed out onto the river in a basket and she soon learns to stand up for herself. When she finds her way home, this plucky little hen is no longer afraid as she bravely takes her place on the roost. |
Cox, Phil Roxbee, Cartwright, Steven, and Jenny Tyler, Goose on the Loose, EDC, 2001. (preschool)Words with the same phonetic pattern woven into an engaging story. |
Cox, Phil Roxbee, Cartwright, Steven, and Jenny Tyler, Hen's Pens, EDC, 2002. (preschool)Words with the same phonetic pattern woven into an engaging story. |
Duvoisin, Roger, Petunia, Knopf, 2000. (Prek-2)In this tale set in a farmyard, Petunia the silly goose believes she has become wise just because she finds a book. |
Galdone, Paul, Nursery Classics: A Galdone Treasury, Houghton Mifflin, 2004. (Grades K-3)Includes Galdone's classic versions of The Three Little Pigs, The Little Red Hen, The Three Bears and The Cat Goes Fiddle Dee Dee. |
Grindley, Sally, and Jill Newton, Where Are My Chicks? Phyllis Fogelman, 2002. (Preschool)Where are the chicks? Mother Hen doesn't know, but all the animals in the farmyard have offered to help her look for them. Young children will enjoy learning their numbers as they help find and count the chicks in this counting book. Sally Grindley's simple text has a clever surprise ending, and the bold acrylic illustrations by Jill Newton are full of many adorable animals-especially the fluffy yellow chicks who bounce across the page to be reunited with their mother, at last! |
Murphy, Patti Beling, Elinor and Violet: The Story of Two Naughty Chickens, Little Brown, 2001. (Grades K-3)When Elinor, who is sometimes just a little naughty, makes friends with Violet, who is much naughtier, Elinor almost spoils the visit of her favorite aunt. |
Numeroff, Laura, and Sharleen Collicott, The Chicken Sisters, HarperCollins, 1999. (K-2)Violet loves to bake, but she always burns her cookies. Poppy loves to knit, and she makes scratchy hats and sweaters for everyone. Babs loves to sing, but she can't hold a note. These sisters' questionable talents annoy the neighbors until they are used to capture the local wolf. |
O'Malley, Kevin, Gimme Cracked Corn and I Will Share, Walker Books for Young Readers, 2007. (Grades PreK-2)Corny one-liners drive this slapstick fantasy, as two featherbrained hens cross the road to follow their dreams. |
Simmons, Jane, Daisy and the Beastie, 2000. (Grades K-2)In search of the "beastie" in their grandfather's story, Daisy (the duckling) and her little brother Pip waddle among the farm and meadow animals. As each animal responds to them, Pip, like any young child, imitates their sounds, mooing or honking. Creeping into a dark shed, the ducklings are alarmed by a frightening sound and scram for their lives. The "beasties" emerge from the darkness, but they're only kittens. |
Spurll, Margriet, and Barbara, Emma's Eggs, Stoddart, 1997. (picture book, Grades 4-7)Emma is one
ambitious young chicken. When she discovers that she has a talent
for creating eggs, she won't rest until she executes the perfect
delivery. To her surprise, Emma learns that a little patience can
go a long way, and can sometimes be more productive than trying
too hard to please. |
Stoeke, Janet Morgan, Minerva Louise at School, Dutton, 1996. (Grades K-1)Minerva Louise the hen wanders away from the farm and explores a nearby school. Interpreting everything according to her own experience, she looks around the school, which she sees as a big red barn, and observes a farmer hanging out his laundry to dry (a custodian raising the flag), a feed bucket (wastepaper basket), and nesting boxes (cubbyholes labeled with children's names). After putting an egg (baseball) in a nest (glove) to keep it warm, she returns to the henhouse. Teachers may enjoy challenging their students to think of other creative uses for familiar objects. |
Cox, Phil Roxbee, Cartwright, Steven, and Jenny Tyler, Sam Sheep Can't Sleep: A Phonics Flap Book, EDC, 2002. (preschool)Words with the same phonetic pattern woven into an engaging story. |
Giliori, Debi, The Snow Lambs, Scholastic, 1996. (Grades preK-3)It's a snowy, blowy night. Sam, Dad, and Bess the dog are counting the sheep from the field. When the herding is done, Bess is missing. Now a blizzard is threatening. In howling wind and blinding snow, brave Bess leads Dad's best ewe home to safety. And born the next morning are two perfect snow lambs. |
Paulsen, Gary, The Haymeadow, Doubleday, 1992. (Young Adult)Fourteen-year-old John comes of age and gains self-reliance during the summer he spends up in the Wyoming mountains tending his father's herd of sheep. |
Scotton, Rob, Russell the Sheep, Harper Collins, 2005. (PreK-2)Russell can't sleep. While the other sheep are dozing off, he ponders the problem of insomnia. When nothing works, he tries counting things. He starts with his feet, and then moves on to the stars. Finally, he counts sheep. Russell nods off just as the new day dawns and the others awaken. |
Shaw, Nancy, Sheep in Jeep, Houghton-Mifflin, 1997. (Preschool)When five foolish sheep cram into one jeep, their high spirits and occasional lack of foresight (like forgetting to steer) combine to make a riotous, if ill-fated, road trip. Plummeting over a hill, tumbling into a mud puddle, yelping for help, these muttonheads just can't get their act together, much to the delight of young readers. |
Sloat, Teri, and Nadine Bernard Westcott, Farmer Brown Shears His Sheep, DK, 2000. (Grades K-2)The sheep want their fleece back and follow the wool through the process of spinning, dyeing and knitting. Farmer Brown knits the sheep sweaters in beautiful colors so that they are happy every year to produce more wool for him. |
Cox, Phil Roxbee, Cartwright, Steven, and Jenny Tyler, Big Pig on a Dig, EDC, 1999. (preschool)Words with the same phonetic pattern woven into an engaging story. |
Fakih, Kimberly Olson, High on the Hog, Farrar, Strauss, Giroux, 1994. (Grades 4-7)When her parents go ahead to establish the family's new life in New York City, Trapp, age 12, stays behind with her great-grandparents in Iowa for the summer. Her beloved world of farm certainties - family, corn, hogs, and her baseball mitt - begins to shimmer in the heat as she discovers a 60-year-old family secret. She also discovers new ways to use the land by observing an elderly scientist (who turns out to be Trapp's biological great-grandmother) returning a field to prairie. Eventually, Trapp comes to understand the complex nature of the past and how families meet their needs and survive. Trapp's sense of family connectedness allows her to face, with a changed attitude, both her move to New York and the aging of her great-grandparents. |
Falconer, Ian, Olivia, Atheneum, 2000. (Preschool)Whether at home getting ready for the day, enjoying the beach, or at bedtime, Olivia is a feisty pig who has too much energy for her own good. |
Galdone, Paul, Nursery Classics: A Galdone Treasury, Houghton Mifflin, 2004. (Grades K-3)Includes Galdone's classic versions of The Three Little Pigs, The Little Red Hen, The Three Bears and The Cat Goes Fiddle Dee Dee. |
Johnson, Paul Brett, The Pig Who Ran a Red Light, Orchard, 1999.After her pig George gets a ticket while driving her pick-up truck, Miss Rosemary uses his habit of imitating Gertrude the cow to get him to behave as he should. |
Kellogg, Steven, The Three Little Pigs, HarperTrophy, 2002. (Grades K-3)In this retelling of a well-known tale, Serafina Sow starts her own waffle-selling business in order to enable her three offspring to prepare for the future, which includes an encounter with a surly wolf. |
Laden, Nina, When Pigasso Met Mootisse, Chronicle, 1998. (Grades 2-4)Pigasso, a talented pig, and Mootisse, an artistic bull, live across the road from one another, but when conflicts arise they build fences that ultimately become modern art masterpieces. Includes biographies of the real-life artists, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. |
Lobel, Arnold, A Treeful of Pigs, Greenwillow, 1979. (K-3)Slavic-inspired illustrations accompany this humorous tale of a clever wife who outwits her lazy husband. |
Lowell, Susan, and Jim Harris, The Three Little Javelinas, Rising Moon, 1992. (Preschool - Grade 3)In this retelling of The Three Little Pigs set in the American Southwest, the cherished porkers are transformed into javelinas, the hairy, swinelike creatures also known as peccaries. Their pursuer, no longer the wolf of traditional lore, becomes Coyote, that ubiquitous Southwestern trickster. Lowell spices the story with elements of Native American, Mexican and Old West culture. Javelina No. 1 builds his house of tumbleweed, while his brother relies on saguaro ribs. Twice Coyote huffs and puffs and the lightweight dwellings fall, but the peccaries are saved by their resourceful sister, who has had the foresight to build her home of stout adobe bricks. |
Marshall, James, and Maurice Sendak, Swine Lake, HarperCollins, 1999. (Grades K-4)A hungry wolf attends a performance of "Swine Lake," performed by the Boarshoi Ballet, intending to eat the performers, but he is so entranced by the story unfolding on the stage that he forgets about his meal. |
Martin, Jacqueline Briggs, and Linda Wingerter, The Water Gift and the Pig of the Pig, Houghton Mifflin, 2003.An orphan girl discovers that she shares her grandfather's gift for finding things when their very clever pig disappears. |
McPhail, David, Big Pig and Little Pig, Harcourt Brace, 2003. (Preschool - Grade 1)Short, simple story, fully illustrated, with familiar objects and situations, repetition, rhyme, and strong links between art and text. The big pig and the little pig are hot--the sun is shining and they want to cool off. They each decide to make a hole to fill with water. Big Pig uses a little shovel to dig his hole while Little Pig has a mechanical digger. The end result seems to suit each as one sits with his big fanny in what looks like a puddle, while the other cavorts in his large swimming hole. |
McPhail, David, Can Do Pigs, Puffin, 1999. (Preschool - Grade 2)Vivid watercolor illustrations and catchy rhyming verse make this a fun book for early readers and listeners. In this story, a bunch of mischievous "can-do" pigs truly live up to their name-children can see them doing everything from building roads, to rowing a boat to the Bahamas, to rocketing to the moon! |
McPhail, David, Pigs Ahoy, Puffin, 1998. (Preschool - Grade 2)A young man joins an ocean cruise on which some bad-mannered pigs create disaster while on board, and when the man returns home, a great surprise awaits him. |
McPhail, David, Pigs Aplenty, Pigs Galore, Puffin, 1996. (Preschool - Grade 2)One minute, the narrator is quietly reading. The next, pigs are descending on his house--and head--in every imaginable getup, by every available means, from every possible place. |
Scieszka, Jon, and Lane Smith, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, Puffin, 1996. (Grades K-6)The wolf gives his own outlandish version of what really happened when he tangled with the three little pigs. |
Steig, William, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Simon & Schuster, 1969. (Grades K-3)While hurrying home to show his parents a wish-granting pebble, Sylvester the donkey is startled by a hungry lion emerging from the bushes. Flustered, Sylvester wishes he were a rock, and is immediately transformed. A year later, Sylvester's grieving parents go for a picnic and choose the rock that is Sylvester as their table. Sylvester's father happens to find the magic pebble and places it on the table, just as Sylvester wishes he were himself again. With great joy, the family is reunited. |
Trivizas, Eugene, and Helen Oxenbury, The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig, Macmillan, 1993. (Grades K-3)Once upon a time, there were three cuddly little wolves with soft fur and fluffy tails....'' They go out into the world to build a house for themselves only to be menaced by a big bad pig. In a clever switch on the familiar counterparts, these sweet-faced innocents use brick, concrete, and steel constructions, but their nemesis is not called big and bad for nothing. With sledgehammer, pneumatic drill, and dynamite, the pig wrecks each structure. ``Something must be wrong with our building materials,'' the wolves muse. Their final house is build from flowers, insubstantial yet beautiful. It is their lovely scent that causes the pig to change his nasty ways and all live together as friends happily ever after. The text has the repeating situations and phrases from the traditional version. |
Weisner, David, The Three Pigs, Clarion, 2001. (Preschool - Grade 3)What begins as a the classic tale of "The Three Pigs" evolves into a free-for-all when the Big Bad Wolf's efforts to blow down the straw house of Pig No. 1 have unexpected consequences -- Pig is blown right of the story! He ends up on the pages of the book, falling out of the frame and transformed into a three-dimensional character. This leaves Wolf completely bewildered. As he approaches Pig No. 2 and his house of twigs, he tries again. But Pig's brother arrives just in time, with news that there is safety outside the confines of the storybook pages. The brothers exit, and Wolf is once again befuddled. When the pigs reach their other brother in the brick house, the three of them decide it's time to get away from Wolf for good. They pummel the storybook frames until they are completely flat -- and then they make an airplane! After a bit of soaring, they crash-land. Finally, they realize that they're being watched. The Three Pigs then jump into the pages of other rhymes, meeting up with a very friendly dragon and a sweet cat. At this point, the entire crew join forces and decide to teach Wolf a lesson. |
Zemach, Margot, The Three Little Pigs: An Old Story, Sunburst, 1991. (Preschool and up)In this version of the fairy tale, the pigs get eaten and stay that way; and after the wolf tries to trick the third pig (with turnips, apples, and the fair), he is cooked in a pot of soup. The characters sport old-fashioned garb, with the pigs in tattered clothes and the wolf in a tailored jacket and top hat. |
