Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1965841 in Books
• Published on: 1997-03-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Berry's picture book debut treats readers to a rollicking good time down on the farm. This spirited rendition of the popular children's song stars Old MacDonald as a kindly, musically inclined father-figure to his animals. The familiar tune is energized by Berry's bordered pencil-and-watercolor compositions, which take up three-quarters of each spread. The remaining quarter-page contains the lyrics, in which the name of each successive creature--and a small drawing of it--and the EIEIO refrain are highlighted in bold, zippy type. Young readers will enjoy the added visual story line as the farmer presents each new animal with an instrument to play in a final foot-, hoof- and paw-stomping jamboree. Berry's warm hues and friendly faces buoy the all-join-in spirit. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 1-After Old MacDonald finishes bringing in the crops, he assembles his animals for a harvest hoedown. As each animal is named in a verse of the familiar song, the farmer provides it with a musical instrument. The action culminates in a jamboree that shakes the barn to the rafters. Although not as action-packed as Tracey Campbell Pearson's rendition of the song (Dial, 1984), Berry's illustrations still feature plenty of activity. Children will enjoy tracking the antics of various animals, including a pesky bee and spider, from one double-page spread to the next. The flat perspective in the framed scenes bring to mind old-fashioned quilts. All of the watercolor-and-pencil illustrations exhibit folk-art characteristics. Notes about the song's origin and variations and a simple piano arrangement complete an attractive volume with appeal for young readers and singers.
Kathy Piehl, Mankato State University, MN
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 2-7. A tidily drawn, cheerfully colored farm greets children as they open this book to its initial double-page spread. There the refrain of the nursery jingle appears along the bottom as the famous farmer is seen lugging a large chest into his barn. A turn of the page introduces the song's first verse and the oinking pig as Old MacDonald draws a banjo from the mysterious chest and presents it to the delighted porker. The farm cat hugs the fiddle it is given on the next page, the cow maneuvers the bass, and so on. With each turn of the page comes another verse and another barnyard critter playing anything from a scrub board to a kazoo until the finale's paw-pounding, feather-flying hoedown. The history of the almost timeless song is related opposite the scene of the still-rocking barn as night settles on the farm. The musical score brings up the end of Berry's exuberant and highly promising first book. Ellen Mandel