Book! Book! Book!

Book! Book! Book! written by Deborah Bruss. illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke. 2001. 40p. New York: Scholastic Press. (0439135257). 

Author Website: www.deborahbruss.com

Illustrator Website: http://www.mbartists.com/cgi-bin/iowa/artists.html?artist=37

Medium: watercolor and acrylic

Awards and Honors: none
 
Audience: 3-5 years old

Annotation:
The children go back to school, leaving the animals on the farm bored and lonely until they decide to go to the library to find something to do.

Personal Reaction:
When the children on the farm go back to school, the bored farm animals decide to head to town to find something fun to do. When the animals see smiling people coming out of the library, they figure they're in the right place. Each animal takes a turn clip clopping, ambling or trotting into the library to ask for something to do. Of course all the librarian hears are moos, baahs and oinks. That is, until the hen flaps into the library and clucks, "Book! Book! Book!". The helpful librarian give the hen three books, with which the animals happily return to the farm to enjoy.

Book! Book! Book! cribs its plot from a predictable joke, but it's an enjoyable book, nonetheless. Bruss keeps the action moving along with her capable narration, and children will enjoy having the opportunity to chime in with the various barnyard noises. Beeke's cheerful watercolor and acrylic illustrations of sweet and smiling animals and lively children add just the right amount of whimsy to the tale.