Farmyard Beat

Farmyard Beat. by Lindsey Craig. illustrated by Marc Brown. 2011. 32p. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Author Website: lindseycraig.com

Illustrator Website: marcbrownstudios.com

Medium: hand-painted paper collage

Awards and Honors: none

Audience: 1 and up

Annotation: 
When the sun goes down, the animals on the farm should be sleeping but instead they are dancing.  

Personal Reaction: 
It's nighttime on the farm and all should be quiet, but instead the animals are singing and dancing. The chicks are the ones who start the chain reaction, peeping and dancing until they wake the sheep, who wake the cat, who wakes the cow, until all of the animals are up and moving. When Farmer Sue comes out to see who's making all that racket, she gets caught up in the singing and dancing, too!

This exuberantly rhythmic rhyming book with its catchy refrain (Chicks can't sleep/ Chicks can't sleep/ Chicks can't sleep 'cause they got that beat!) is a big hit with toddlers, both for its bouncy text and its chunky textured illustrations of dancing animals. Marc Brown departs from his typical style (well-known from his Arthur series), in favor of collage. Using hand-painted papers that resemble corrugated cardboard, Brown builds the animals out of basic shapes, giving them a childishly appealing look.