When the children go back to school, the animals on the farm have nothing to do. That is...until they discover the library. But when Cow, Pig, Horse, and Goat try to check out a book, they are met with a very puzzled librarian. Why can't she understand? It is only when Hen gives it a try - "book! Book! BOOK!" - that the animals finally get what they want! "Young kids...[will] love making all the animal noises and recognize how it feels when an adult doesn't understand." - Booklist PreS-Gr 1-Bruss has taken an old joke and drawn it out into a full-length picture book. When the children return to school, the barnyard is quiet and very dull. When the hen announces that she is heading to town, the rest of the animals follow. Seeing happy faces coming out of the library, she informs the others that she will go in and find something for them to do. Told that she is "too small for such a big job," the larger creatures take turns venturing inside, but cannot make themselves understood. Finally the hen goes in, says "Book! Book! Book!," and comes out with the desired items. The animals return to the farm and are pictured reading until the sun sets. In the unlikely event that children haven't already heard this joke, they will not be impressed by this belabored version. The very title of the story gives away the punch line and makes it anticlimactic. Beeke's watercolor illustrations featuring blue horses and dot-eyed children are pleasant but unexceptional.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Ages 2-5. When the children go back to school, the farm animals are bored, so they drive to town and try out the public library. The librarian can't understand what the horse, the cow, the goat, and the pig are saying. But then the hen clucks "Book! Book! Book!" and the librarian finally gets it and gives them all books to take home to the farm. Even young kids may find the nonsense a bit contrived, but they'll love making all the animal noises and recognize how it feels when an adult doesn't understand what they're saying. The playful, splashy pictures in watercolor and acrylic show the library as a busy, exciting place, where the goat gets absorbed in story hour, and the bullfrog is cozy on the bookshelves. In fact, in a running gag, the pictures show that the bullfrog has been at home with books from the beginning. Then story hour comes to the barnyard, and the delighted neighs, moos, baas. oinks, quacks, and Book! Book! Books! go on until sundown. Hazel Rochman Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved When the children leave the farm to go back to school, the bored barnyard animals head to the library in search of something to do. But their language ("Neigh! Neigh!" and Moo! Moo! ") is only so much noise for the kindly but confused librarian--until a determined hen flaps in and clucks "Book! Book! Book!" Soon, the gang is back on the farm happily having a story hour of their own (the cow even presents a puppet show). The plot of this debut book may be predictable, but Beeke's (The Brand New Creature) acrylic-and-watercolor paintings buoy the story. With a cheery, naïf style and dappled, Easter-basket colors, the artist makes every full-bleed spread look like a sunny mural composed by young library goers, and her vignettes keep the attempts at communication tightly focused. Even though her characterizations are deceptively simple, the resolve of the plucky fowl and glee of the newly book-equipped animals shines through. Young bibliophiles in particular will appreciate Beeke's depiction of the library as a welcoming place of fun and possibilities. --Publishers Weekly, April 23rd, 2001 When children bo back to school, the farm animals are bored, so they drive to town and try out the public library. The librarian can't understand what the horse, the cow, the goat, and the pig are saying. But then the hen clucks "Book! Book! Book!" and the librarian finally gets it and gives them all books to take home to the farm. Even young kids may find the nonsense a bit contrived, but they'll love making all the animal noises and recognize how it feels when an adult doesn't understand what they're saying. The playful, splashy pictures in watercolor and acrylic show the library as a busy, exciting place, where the goat gets absorbed in story hour, and the bullfrog is cozy on the bookshelves. In fact, in a running gag, the pictures show that the bullfrog has been at home with books from the beginning. Then the story hours comes to the barnyard, and the delighted neighs, moos, baas, oinks, quacks, and Book! Book! Book! go until sundown. ---Booklist, May 15th 2001 Deborah Bruss is the author of the children's title, Book! Book! Book!, published by Arthur A. Levine Books. Bruss' work as an author has only been a relatively recent phenomenon. As a child, Bruss did not enjoy writing, and even attempted to avoid writing-intensive classes in high school. She