From the creators of Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type, the great team Cronin and Lewin have come out with an another equally great, ‘sequelish’ piece of children’s literature. In this book, Farmer Brown is going on vacation leaving his brother in charge of the farm. Instructed to follow the directions left in Farmer Brown’s notes, Bob follows suit, not knowing the Duck has surreptitiously replaced all of Farmer Brown’s notes with his own. Bob is instructed to order pizza for the animals, give the pigs baths, and host a movie night inside. Do the animals get away with it? Does Bob catch on to the sneaky Duck? Read to find out!
Like Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type, this story has the same premise of Farmer Brown’s animals communicating to humans through written messages, and manipulating the humans to get what they want. The fun story makes the animals feel just like humans, like any one of us (I mean, who wouldn’t want anchovies on their pizza?) When Brother Bob checks on the animals in the barn after a pizza dinner, they are all curled up on the heated blankets they bargained for in Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type, a fun detail for those children who can make that connection. The watercolor illustrations are great, completely covering all the pages with bright colors. The illustrations show parts of the plot that the text doesn’t reveal, like the Duck stumbling upon the pencil at the beginning of the story. I would read this book aloud in kindergarten and maybe 1st grade. A second grader should be able to read it on their own with some vocabulary help. This could be read as part of an animal lesson to teach empathy towards these creatures that others aren’t as nice to, or it could just be read for fun!
Cronin and Lewin make a great pair, and not only is this a great extension to the Caldecott Honor book Click Clack Moo, but it has great individual value apart from it. The illustrations and storyline will have kids cracking up, and chanting along with the repetitious phrases. This is another excellent book to have any classroom library!