Fox in the Farmyard

From School Library Journal\nea. vol: unpaged. Random. Mar. 1986. pop-up $5.95. LC number unavailable. PreS-Gr 1 Two mediocre pop-up storybooks with predictable story lines written in rhyme that is at times forced. A mischievous Runaway Ball decides to bounce away from its owner. It disrupts a band, knocks a bicyclist off of his bike, and causes an ice cream stand to tip over. The illustrations look incomplete due to the lack of details and inconsistency of color. In The Fox in the Farmyard , ``. . .Fox had a yen /to dine upon a fine plump hen,'' but his plot is foiled by the barnyard animals, whose neighing, mooing, and woof-woofing wake the farmer. These simple watercolor illustrations are more appealing due to the use of nighttime colors and detail to depict the humorous wide-eyed animals. The small size of these books allows for individual use, but these titles are not advisable for library purchase. There are too many better books for this age group. Connie M. Hornyak, Lake County Public Library, Merrillville, Ind.
Copyright 1986 Cahners Business Information, Inc.