On the Farm
Written by David Elliott; Illustrated by Holly Meade

Here’s a look at the world of the family farm told through a series of individual poems.  From the dog and the cat to the cow and the bull, a variety of animals are included.

Biographical Sketches:

David Elliott grew up in a small farm town in Ohio and worked for a day on a dairy farm when he was twelve.  Now, David lives in New Hampshire with his wife and son.  He has written many books for children, including picture books, chapter books, and even a graphic novel.

Holly Meade has always lived in New England.  One of the highlights of her childhood was visiting her grandparents’ dairy farm in Maine.  She has illustrated many children’s books, and won the Caldecott Medal for illustrating Hush!  A Thai Lullaby.  This is the first book in which she has used wood cuts for her illustrations.  Holly currently lives in Maine.

Suggested Activities:

1.Visit a farm.  Take pictures of the animals there and compare them to the animals in the book.

2. Pick a farm animal to research.  It can be an animal from the book or another farm animal.

3. Write poetry about animals on the farm.

4. Play animal charades---act out the animals without making any noise (hard to do!).

5. Sing “Old MacDonald,” and then do variations on the song---jungle, forest, etc.

6. Compare the sizes of the farm animals.  Find out how much each one weighs and how long it is.  Then graph their sizes on a chart.

7. Read Charlotte’s Web.  Discuss which character is each child’s favorite.  Have the students design postcards from this farm and write letters as if they are one of the characters in the book.

8. Explore the differences between domestic and wild animals.  Books from these groups are in separate library sections.  Use a Venn diagram to compare them.

9. Compare the artwork of Holly Meade to that of other artists who use woodblock printing.  Mary Azarian, who illustrated the Caldecott Award book Snowflake Bentley, would be a good choice.

10. Do the On the Farm poetry puzzle by clicking here.

 

Companion Books:

Cazet, Denys. Minnie and Moo Go to the Moon. DK Children, 1998.
Cronin, Doreen.  Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type.  Simon and Schuster, 2000.
Beaton, Clare.  How Big is a Pig?  Barefoot Books, 2000.
Fowler, Alan.  Living on Farms.  Children’s Press, 2000.
Galdone, Paul.  The Little Red Hen.  Houghton Mifflin, 1973.
Gibbons, Gail.  Farming.  Holiday House, 1988.
Kinsey-Warnock, Natalie.  From Dawn to Dusk.  Houghton Mifflin, 2002.
McGovern, Ann.  Too Much Noise.  Houghton Mifflin, 1966.
On the Farm Series.  Pebble Books, 2002.
Schaefer, Lola.  We Need Farmers.  Captstone press, 2000.
Scott, Janine.  Farm Friends.  Compass Point Books, 2002.
White, E.B.  Charlotte’s Web.  Illustrated by Garth Williams.  HarperCollins, 2006.
Zemach, Margot.  It Could Always Be Worse:  A Yiddish Folk Tale.  Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1990.

Books by David Elliott:
And Here’s to You!  Illustrated by Randy Cecil.  Candlewick, 2009.
Knitty Kitty.  Illustrated by Christopher Denise.  Candlewick, 2008.
One Little Chicken:  A Counting Book.  Illustrated by Ethan Long.  Holiday House, 2007.

Books Illustrated by Holly Meade:
Campbell, Ann.  Queenie Farmer Had Fifteen Daughters.  Silver Whistle, 2002.
Gershator, Phillis.  Sky Sweeper.  Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1990.
Ho, Minfong.  Hush!  A Thai Lullaby.  Scholastic, 2000.

 

Websites:

http://www.davidelliottbooks.com   David Elliott’s home page

http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/charlotte/index.htm  Charlotte’s Web activities

http://kiddyhouse.com/Farm/  On the Farm

http://www.magickeys.com/books/farm/index/html  Farm animal sounds---very basic information

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/coloring/farm.shtml  Farm animal information and activities

http://www.kidsfarm.com/farm.htm  Another basic site for information

http://www.proteacher.com/090006.shtml   Dozens of activities and lessons for units on farms and farm animals