The Farmer in the Dell
PreSchool-K-O'Brien's watercolor-and-ink illustrations do not depict the traditional circle game, but imagine the circumstances of the song itself and visually settle the question of "So, what's a 'dell' anyway?" As bright-eyed characters try to pull a hapless farmer out of a hollow, the cheese indeed stands alone in his initial refusal to cooperate in the rescue. The cheese, depicted as a wedge with stick limbs and an attitude, finally relents, and the farmer is pulled free. As the cat fiddles, the rescuers and the rescued celebrate with abandon until the farmer dances right off the edge, and once again it's "the farmer in the dell-." Fresh, funny, and great fun.Sue Sherif, Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library, AKCopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.