Picture Book Review: Old MacDonald Had Her Farm

Old MacDonald Had Her Farm
Written by:  JonArno Lawson
Illustrated by: Tina Holdcroft
Published by: Annick Press, 2012

* In this take on the classic "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" the farmer is female.  On her farm she has the vowels a, e, i, o, u.  When she comes across the letter "a" the author lists what the farmer would do.....which include all verbs and nouns that have the short a sound, and so on.  The pictures are colorful, humorous....and busy!  There is a lot going on in these pictures.  My daughter had a fun time reading this one aloud and kind of dominated our reading.  However, I'd like to go back and have my son, a beginning reader try reading this one. Overall, this is a nonsensical, cute read.

An e-book version of this book was provided by NetGalley.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up.

Picture Book Review: Life is a Bowl Full of Cherries

Life is a Bowl Full of Cherries
Written by:  Vanita Oelschlager
Illustrated by: Robin Hegan
Published by: Vanita Books, 2011

* This is a great book of food-related idioms.  My kids are familiar with and really enjoyed Parts by Tedd Arnold (a book of body related idioms).  This book reminded me very much of that book.  The illustrations are eye-catching, colorful and humorous!  Idioms like "Couch Potato" "Packed in Like Sardines" and "One Bad Apple" are used and explained in this book.  The idiom is written and illustrated through a literal interpreration.  Upside down on the bottom of the page is an explanation of the idiom.  At the end of the book the author gives a brief history  and explanation of idioms. 

My 6 year old daughter really enjoyed this book and seemed to understand the expressions.  Even if my 4 year old son didn't quite "get" the idioms he enjoyed looking at the illustrations.  This book is a great addition to any elementary teacher's classroom library.

I was provided with an e-book version of this book from netgalley.  I read it on my nook to the kids.  However, it wasn't formatted for it and was difficult and a bit annoying to read in this format.  There was a lot of back and forth between enlarging the page to be able to read the idiom explanation and then minimizing to see the whole page.  I think this book would have been much more enjoyable if read in hardcover format.

This book was provided in e-book form by netgalley.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.