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Book! Book! Book!

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When the children go back to school, the animals on the farm are bored, so Cow, Pig, Horse, Hen, and Goat go into the library in town trying to find something to do. 25,000 first printing.

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

2 people are currently reading
482 people want to read

About the author

Deborah Bruss

8 books7 followers
Deborah has spent most of her life in rural NH, from her younger years where she rode her pony in the woods of Peterborough, to the present where she plays with her horse-smitten granddaughters on their parent’s organic farm not far from her home in Concord, NH.
Deborah was not a child who spent hours with her nose buried in books because reading didn’t come easy. Neither did writing. When she became a parent, she happily read armloads of books aloud to her children. After thousands of pages, she discovered her reading had become more fluid and she fell in love with children’s literature. Her first book (unpublished) was for her son who also struggled with reading. From there she took courses, joined writers’ groups, wrote humorous and educational essays for a newspaper, and finally got her first picture book published in 2001.

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5 stars
508 (35%)
4 stars
483 (33%)
3 stars
336 (23%)
2 stars
82 (5%)
1 star
15 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 183 reviews
Profile Image for Stacy.
1,003 reviews90 followers
February 28, 2021
Cute story about some farm animals going to the library to read.
Profile Image for Richie Partington.
1,188 reviews134 followers
July 16, 2013
2/23/2001 BOOK! BOOK! BOOK! by Deborah Bruss, Illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke, Arthur A. Levine Books May 2001

In those years when I'd do daily circle times with preschoolers and kindergarteners, I used to love to have the children act out stories from picture books they knew from repeated readings. Depending upon the age group, I'd utilize books such as CAPS FOR SALE,THE WOLF'S CHICKEN STEW, THE PEA PATCH JIG, MUSHROOM IN THE RAIN and John Burningham's RABBIT.

It took me awhile to understand why I liked this simple little story BOOK! BOOK! BOOK! so much. I did immediately suspect that it is one of those books that librarians would put a copy aside for reading to young groups and classes. The bored farm animals see smiling people entering a building (the library), and they go in one after another, futilely trying to communicate with the librarian. Of course it is finally Hen who knows the magic words which the librarian understands (see title). The illustrations are soft,sweet, and beautiful. What I finally realized was that it is also special to me because it is one of those perfect join in/act out stories.

Richie Partington, MLIS
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Profile Image for Stephanie.
Author 2 books45 followers
February 24, 2019
My kindergarten students really enjoyed this one. We stopped when the animals were heading to town and they wrote and drew predictions about what the animals were going to do. Then we finished reading. They really liked the end of the story too.
Profile Image for Carol Royce Owen.
970 reviews14 followers
May 1, 2015
An engaging story for children about some bored farm animals who head to town to find something to do. When they see the happy faces of the children and adults coming from the library, they each go inside to see if there is something they can do there. Unfortunately, the librarian is unable to understand them until the hen, who started the trip in the first place, finally gets the librarian to understand what they want. So all ends happy for most of the animals that night as they all have a special joy to share. But, as the author wrote in my book, keep your eye on the frog. He alone is not happy, Read to find out why.
Profile Image for Jennifer.
4,832 reviews59 followers
February 28, 2021
This one is cute! A group of farm animals are bored because their human friends have all gone back to school. After a few days they decide to head into town and find something to do. When they see happy kids coming out of a certain building they decide to go in that building. Of course, the building is the library but the animals cannot communicate with the librarian. There's a ton of animal sounds here that the kids can inmitate, which is awesome. Eventually, the hen saves the day with her "Book! Book! Book!" - finally something the librarian understands. A fun read aloud for a story time group.
Profile Image for Joan.
2,856 reviews52 followers
April 11, 2020
Down on the farm, the animals were happy . . . until the children went back to school. The horse hung his head, the cow complained, the goat grumbled. The pig pouted, the duck dozed off, the hen heaved a sigh. Bored, the animals went into town and, seeing all the happy faces, decided the library was the place they wanted to go.

Will the animals be able to tell the librarian what they want?

This charming tale is sure to delight young readers. The watercolor and acrylic pictures are a perfect accompaniment to the laugh-out loud story that is sure to become a favorite.

Highly recommended.
Profile Image for Samantha.
4,985 reviews60 followers
April 24, 2013
The farm animals take a trip to the library, but the librarian has trouble understanding what they want because she doesn't speak horse or cow or goat or pig. Enter hen to save the day! When hen says "Book!" the librarian says "How Many?"

A fun read aloud with beautiful watercolor and acrylic illustrations. I especially love the humorous ending!
Profile Image for Nancy Jo Lambert.
1,070 reviews114 followers
May 12, 2011
This is a great read aloud that I used at the beginning of the year on recommendation from my predecessor. I like that the barnyard animals participate in going ot the library to get books.

I used a chicken/ hen puppet when I read this one. Great for storytime!
14 reviews
March 13, 2024
Perfect for a library themed storytime.
Funny play on words- the farm animals are bored when their children go back to school so they venture to the library. The librarian can't understand what they want. All she hears is moo, neigh, baa...until the hen says "book". :)
Profile Image for Charles.
Author 41 books283 followers
July 21, 2021
A cute little story that introduces children to the sounds of critters in the barnyard. The animals are bored when the kids go to school so they go into town and end up at the library!
Profile Image for Allison Stoltz.
21 reviews1 follower
August 28, 2018
Book! Book! Book!
My overall impression of this book is a good one. I like that when the animals get bored they want to go to the library in search of something to do. They noticed happy people coming out and decided to go in. They came up with a plan and one by one took turns going in and talking to the librarian. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our children when they got bored decided to go to the library and read books instead of their video games, telephones or just hanging out doing basically nothing.
What caught my eye was the watercolor drawings but not in a good way. I am not a fan of this kind of illustration. It looks like second graders illustrated the book but maybe that was the goal of the illustrator.
I like the big font they used in the book. It is easy to hold up and read to children or just read in general. I like the setting of the book. It took place on a farm where children were outside playing with the animals instead of cooped up in the house watching television. Then when the children went to school it was fun to see the animals go off to the library to be like the children and learn.
I love the idea of this book in that it takes place on a farm and in the library. I love that the writer focuses on positive things that children can do instead of only focusing on digital entertainment, which is not bad in and of itself, only when it gets over used.
114 reviews
August 31, 2018
Farm animals are sad when the children go back to school in the fall, so they all go to the library. Despite their polite requests, the librarian can't understand them, except the hen. Two VERY clever jokes at the end which are mostly for adults. Beautifully painted illustrations. Provides great opportunities for making farm animal noises. Pairs well with the song "Old MacDonald Had a Farm."
Profile Image for Kristen Miller.
48 reviews1 follower
September 28, 2020
This book by Deborah Bruss was a cute story about animals that got bored on the farm and went into town. I grew up on a dryland wheat farm and couldn't help but think..."I wonder if the animals actually got bored when we would leave?!" The repetition of the story was probably my favorite part, along with the fun illustrations! This book is at times silly and I do think that younger kids would really enjoy it.
Profile Image for Peyton.
1,689 reviews1 follower
May 16, 2018
"Book! Book! Book!" is a cute little story about animals trying to find amusement by reading a book from the library. It follows traditional children book tropes such as animal characters, repetitive dialogue, and the usage of sounds. The colours are pastel and give a calm feeling to the book. It is a simple story, but the animal sounds can make it a fun read.
18 reviews
September 5, 2018
Such a great book, it is engaging with all the colorful pictures! I love how the animals in the book get bored and end up going to the library to find something to do. They see the happy faces everyone carries when they are leaving and I feel like that catches the attention. As well as this book setting/giving an example to the audience that the library is fun and not as boring as it may seem.
Profile Image for Savannah Levos.
21 reviews1 follower
September 5, 2018
I thought it was a really cute book. It is definitely a good way to learn your animal sounds. I like how towards the end that the librarian could only understand the chicken. She gave the chicken books and all the animals were reading instead of doing nothing all day. I think this book is good for encouraging students and the other readers to keep on reading no matter what.
Profile Image for Tirzah.
1,069 reviews15 followers
November 6, 2018
The illustrations are inviting, the length is just right, and the plot is cute and funny. I've read this two different years for the "Library" themed storytime and each time the kids enjoyed it. So did the adults...when you read a book adults and kids enjoy, that is always a double win. :) I have a good time too as I get to use a variety of voices!
Profile Image for Lynn  Davidson.
8,062 reviews35 followers
January 1, 2019
On the farm the children and the animals played games together and everyone was happy. When the children went to school at the end of summer, the animals got bored so they want to town to find something to do. Ending up in the library lead to problems and a funny ending to the cleverly written story. Fun illustrations.
Profile Image for Anastasia Tuckness.
1,577 reviews18 followers
February 9, 2019
This is just about the perfect picture book and has long been a favorite of mine. The bored farm animals take a trip into town--to the library! Unfortunately, the librarian has a tough time understanding what they need (not uncommon for librarians working with all ages and all levels of language facility!) ... until the chicken comes along with the magic words.
Profile Image for David Freudenburg.
477 reviews
September 4, 2019
Great story. Fun farm animal characters that kids love. Very conducive to audience participation. Everybody loves to go "moo" and "neigh" and "baa" and "oink". There is a unique feature about this book which makes it good for story times. Besides being fun for kids, it ends with a cute joke which only adults will understand. The whole family can like the book!
Profile Image for Christie At The Library.
152 reviews2 followers
February 14, 2017
This book gets a 2.5, mostly based on the reaction I got at story time. I enjoyed this book and it's puns were very cute, and it got some giggles from parents. But, I don't think my story time kids enjoyed it much. The puns went over their head and it was too wordy to really hold their interest.
Profile Image for Ms. Jeane.
253 reviews4 followers
October 10, 2017
I personally love this book, but it NEVER works in my storytimes! I don't know why! I don't know if it's my delivery or the children just don't get the puns, or what! I think I might retire it from reading any further in my storytimes.
Profile Image for Courtney Heard.
80 reviews
April 30, 2018
This is a fun book for young readers who are learning what animals make and incorporates in the education aspect that everyone likes to read and learn.

Six + 1Traits: idea, word choice
DRA Level: 16
Lexile: AD440L
Profile Image for Emily.
1,684 reviews13 followers
February 27, 2020
I can't believe I haven't reviewed this one yet - it's always been our standard library tour book. Fun, fun, fun with lots of noises to make and a couple more sophisticated pun-jokes that older kids and adults appreciate.
Profile Image for orangerful.
953 reviews50 followers
March 1, 2017
I've read this book SO MANY TIMES at preschool visits, I probably have it memorized. The kids always love it. Must have for any librarian or PreK teacher.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 183 reviews

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