Life on the farm

My three daughters were all born in California. Raising young children

in America allowed me to discover lots of wonderful children's books authors

and illustrators, including classics like Doctor Seuss who at the time had

never been published in Italy. There were many family favorites, from

Jan Brett and Mercer Mayer to the lovely Catch me and kiss me and say it again.

But, maybe because we also lived in the country, I think that the most beloved 

of all was this wonderful volume by Alice and Martin Provensen describing

 the animals living on the authors' farm in upstate New York.

I love the humorous, warm and realistic depictions of the farm's many inhabitants.

The autobiographical element helps the authors to make the animals come alive

as individual characters with their unique qualities and weaknesses, from the smart 

sheep Old Eleven to the cocky rooster Big Shot.

 The books has a large format, and of our favourite spreads were the ones featuring 

many vignettes portraying the various animals' personalities and daily activities.

We could get lost for a long time looking at all the funny details in these pages.

I took these photos from our own tattered, very used copy.

The book is very sweet, but not sentimental. The narration is down to earth, 

describing the many difficulties of working with animals, and one page shows 

the "bad" dogs who had to be "put away". The spread above shows the spot in 

the forest where the beloved dogs and cats who had died lie buried. 

I recommend clicking on the pictures to view them at a larger size.