Cows in the Kitchen - Hardcover

Crebbin, June

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0763606456 ISBN 13: 9780763606459

Publisher: Candlewick, 1998

Synopsis

Tom Farmer wakes up to mischief in a sprightly read-aloud that children will scramble to participate in.

While Tom Farmer naps in the haystack, his animals take over the farmhouse. There are cows in the kitchen, ducks in the cupboard, hens on the hat stand, pigs in the pantry, and even sheep on the sofa! What will happen when Tom Farmer wakes up? June Crebbin's boisterous text—a wild and wacky version of a nursery song modeled on "Skip to My Lou"—and Katharine McEwen's spririted illustrations combine for some riotous barnyard fun.

About this title

About the Author

June Crebbin taught school before retiring in order to devote herself entirely to writing. She says, "While I was visiting the preschool-aged children at the school where I used to teach, they were singing a version of 'Cows in the Kitchen.' I thought it was so much fun that it inspired me to write my own!"

Katharine McEwen recently graduated from a three-year course in illustration. "What I like about this story," she says, "is the mischievous nature of all the animals. I loved painting the chaos they caused, especially in the final pages."

Reviews

PreSchool-K-Mischief-making barnyard animals and a tired farmer interact in this picture book based on a folk song. The rhythmic verses follow the pattern of "Skip to My Lou": "Cows in the kitchen, moo, moo, moo,/Cows in the kitchen, moo, moo, moo,/Cows in the kitchen, moo, moo, moo./That's what we do, Tom Farmer!" The accompanying two-page spread shows three bovines happily breaking dishes, licking food, and balancing items on their horns. The story continues with "ducks in the dishes," "pigs in the pantry," "hens on the hat stand," and "sheep on the sofa." Finally, the animals wake Tom Farmer from his haystack nap. When he shoos them out into the farmyard, they burst into the house again and make as much trouble as before. The story is slight, but the strong rhythm and repetition are sure to invite participation. Watercolor and pencil illustrations catch the spirit of fun. The stiff flatness of the simply drawn animals and the details of their activities are amusing rather than hilarious. Neither words nor pictures match the cleverness of Nadine Westcott's Skip to My Lou (Joy Street, 1989), Nancy Shaw's Sheep in a Jeep (Houghton, 1986), or Rhonda Gowler Greene's Barnyard Song (Atheneum, 1997), but kids will still enjoy this farmyard fracas.
Steven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library, OR
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Lending itself to a sing-along rather than a read-aloud (the text can be sung to the tune of "Skip to My Lou"), the merriment of this mischievous book is contagious. Barnyard animal sounds punctuate Crebbin's (Into the Castle) catchy text: "Ducks in the dishes, quack, quack, quack [repeat twice]/ That's what we do, Tom Farmer!" After seeing the animals wreaking havoc in the house, readers spy the farmer sleeping in the haystack, who chases the animals out and promptly falls asleep in an armchair. Crebbin's clever pacing comes into play as the prankster animals sneak in with a "shhh, shhh, shhh," and pounce on the innocently dozing fellow. McEwen makes a splash of a debut with her bustling, highly animated, slightly flattened cartoon drawings. High-stepping cows balance bottles on their noses, lick Jell-O and smash dishes; ducks make themselves comfortable in the cupboard, cozying up in a teapot and pilfering sugar cubes; sheep bounce and flop happily on the sofa. The broadly smiling troublemakers are an irresistible crew, ready to ambush unsuspecting readers as well with their rambunctious gaiety. Ages 2-5.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 1^-4. "Cows in the kitchen, moo, moo, moo . . . sheep on the sofa, baa, baa, baa." The farm animals invade the house while the farmer snoozes in the haystack in a large-size picture book with bright, wild double-page spreads in watercolor and pencil. As in Amy Ehrlich and Steven Kellogg's Parents in the Pigpen, Pigs in the Tub (which was Booklist's Top of the List picture-book choice for 1994) and Linnea Riley's Mouse Mess (1997), young preschoolers will love the domestic chaos, which they themselves would like to be part of. Some of the pictures may be a bit packed for the youngest audience, who may not realize in one picture, for example, that the animals are looking in through the window from the outside; but the simple, bouncing repetitive chant and animal noises will have everyone joining in. Hazel Rochman

Edition details

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0763606456
• ISBN 13: 9780763606459
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: McEwen Katharine
• Number of pages: 32