Poetry Friday: On the Farm

Elliott, David. 2008. On the Farm. Illustrated by Holly Meade.

I love On the Farm. I just love it. It has these amazing woodcut and watercolor illustrations by Holly Meade that add depth to the poetry by David Elliott. Each two page spread pays tribute to a farm animal: the rooster, the cow, the pony, the dog, the sheep, the barn cat, the goat, the pig, the snake, the bees, the bull, the turtle, etc. You know how some poetry books for children have the dinky factor...well, On the Farm is a refreshingly non-dinky picture book treatment of farm animals. The poems are well-written, and the illustrations are really above and beyond what you'd usually find. They're just that good.

Here is one of my favorites:

The Pig

Her tail? As coy as a ringlet.
In her eye there's a delicate sheen.
Some look at her and see a sow;
I see a beauty queen.

Here's another of my favorites:

The Dog

Sleeps
with
one
eye
open
in the shady
farmhouse yard.

You might think
he's keeping cool.
Beware!
He's keeping guard!

Poetry Friday is at Becky's Book Reviews.


© Becky Laney of Young Readers