Farm Lullaby | Suggested by Chris Stuckenschneider

Searching for a nighty-night read to please? Look no further than “Farm Lullaby,” by Karen Jameson, a delight with soothing rhyme and enticing farm animals little ones will want to reach out and touch.

Horses, cows, sheep, pigs, sheep, ducks, chickens and mice are presented, each spread or two focusing on a particular barnyard cutie, offering abundant “point and identify” opportunities. Another literacy tool allows children to imitate the animals’ voices because each is introduced in rhyme using the sound they make, a repeated pattern throughout.

We meet a doe-eyed mare and her colt, an overview depicting the farm where they live, their heads visible through a half-opened, barn door.

“Neigh-a-bye lullaby. Slowly swaying rock-a-bye.”

Soon sleep comes, “Nuzzle nose, breathing deep. Plodding, nodding off to sleep.”

Next on the cute-a-meter are cows, their offspring circling in the pasture, while mama looks on, eyes heavy,

“Moo-a-bye lullaby. Droopy eyelids flutter—sigh.”

In their stall, mama and calf proceed to “Settling in, hoof to chin. Milky dreams come floating in.”

The barnyard menagerie continues with wolly and sleek, curly-tailed and feathered. Two additional animals have bit parts, a family of kitties catnaps by a pail of milk and a slumbering dog snoozes, his back a mattress for a plump, red hen. They’re all on display in retro-like illustrations by Wednesday Kirwan, animals reminiscent of those found in Little Golden Books.

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