My First Farm Friends: Books in a Barn
...The soothing pen-and-ink and watercolor cartoons and a cheery tone create an idyllic rural environment, while giving children a sense of how the animals--and the humans who care for them--spend each day. Also included are sturdy pop-out animals, for use with the foldout playscape. Up to age 3. (Sept.) -Publishers WeeklyThis boxed set, which includes a cardboard barn (with Velcro door) and stand-up farm animals, contains four books, each of which follows the same sturdy formula (“A Day With Cows,”  “A Day With Pigs,” “A Day With Goats,”  “A Day With Chickens”). The cows, who live in the big red barn, wake up, chow down, interact with their human counterparts and eventually make their way back to the barn by bedtime. The chickens live in the coop.... But combined with lively, sketchlike watercolor illustrations, the book’s simplicity speaks volumes about the wonders of farm life to suburban and city-dwelling listeners. (The New York Times Sunday Book Review)My First Farm Friendsby Betsy Wallin is a sweet read-and-play combo for babies through preschoolers. Four board books, one for each farmyard favorite—goat, cow, pig and chicken—show daily life on a happy family farm. We see where the animals live, what they eat, how they play and how the whole family works together to take good care of them. We also learn the real names for animals, like father rooster, mother hen and baby chicks; or, for the goats, father buck, mother doe and baby kid. The cute gift box in which the four books are contained is illustrated inside and out and instantly converts into a play barn with a working door. Children can act out the stories and make up new ones using the four sturdy, stand-up animals. A nice touch for tired parents is that each book ends with a sunset and cozy night scene just right for winding down with bedtime reading. (BookPage)