Queenie Farmer Had Fifteen Daughters - Hardcover

Campbell, Ann

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0152019332 ISBN 13: 9780152019334

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers, 2002

Synopsis

On the very day Queenie Farmer gives birth to fifteen daughters, her beloved prize herd of cows runs off with her husband in chase. Her life is never dull, and Queenie rises to each task with her own particular flair.
Ann Campbell's delightfully original tall tale weaves together a down-home family story with early math concepts and an introduction to the days of the week. Holly Meade's gentle hand and buoyant compositions highlight the bold, independent spirit of Queenie--and each of her beloved girls.

About this title

About the Author:

ANN CAMPBELL is a former librarian and children's book editor. She lives in Cotati, California.

HOLLY MEADE has illustrated many books for children, including Hush: A Thai Lullaby, which won a Caldecott Honor. She lives in Newburyport, Massachussetts.

From Publishers Weekly:

Campbell (Dora's Box) extends an invitation to enter the realm of the fairy and folktale, with generous doses of humor: "The day that Queenie Farmer gave birth to fifteen daughters, her beloved prize cows got loose. Mr. Farmer went after them and never came back." The action unfolds around several of Queenie's daughters' birthdays, when the girls make a request of their mother, which she obliges willingly ("Her girls asked for so little, and Queenie wanted to give them so much"). The tasks always take her six days, with the payoff on Sunday. When she is asked to make 15 birthday cakes for their sixth birthday, for example, Mrs. Farmer grinds flour on Monday, collects eggs on Tuesday, and so forth, until, "On Sunday, the Farmer girls ate cake five chocolate layer cakes, four yellow sponge cakes, three pound cakes, two ice cream cakes, and one angel food cake" (always a countdown from five to one). The girls up the ante as they mature, so that Queenie ends up going out to find 15 husbands for her girls then baby-sitting their 55 offspring on Sundays. Queenie's indisputable love, energy and ingenuity permeate the tale, while Meade (Hush! A Thai Lullaby) makes the most of the simultaneously born siblings, the seven-day motif, and Queenie's comical yearning for her lost Holsteins (she dresses herself and her "herd" of daughters in black and white). Like the narrative, the artwork mirrors the ebb and flo of life. In the end, it's Queenie's turn, as she happily paints Holsteins all week long ('til Sunday, of course). Ages 3-7.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0152019332
• ISBN 13: 9780152019334
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Meade Holly