The Farmer in the Dell

by Ilse Plume (Illustrator)

The timeless circle-game "The Farmer in the Dell" is one of the first that children learn to play. In this picture book, Ilse Plume has imagined a fresh setting for the lyrics―a farmstead in the Pennsylvania Dutch country.

Genres: Picture Books, Music, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

Published March 1, 2004

About the author

Ilse Plume is an internationally renowned children's book author and illustrator who has illustrated stories from Italy, Latvia, Russia, and Sweden. She was inspired to illustrate children's books by her daughter, and her love of tales around the world was nurtured by her grandfather.

Her books include: The Bremen Town Musicians, which received the Caldecott Honor, and, most recently, The Farmer in the Dell. She has shown her work in exhibitions at the Lincoln Public Library and the DeCordova Museum in Massachusetts, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Ilse has an M.F.A. and B.F.A. from Drake University, and studied printmaking at the Santa Reparata Studio in Florence, Italy. She is therecipient of the 1985 Ezra Jack Keats Award. She has taught at numerous institutions, including Iowa State University, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She currently teaches at the School for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and has just completed a book about St. Francis.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple, absolutely charming and in my opinion a perfect picture book to either read aloud or use for actively engaging in the traditional Farmer in the Dell circle game, and I do indeed love almost everything about Ilse Plume's The Farmer in the Dell (from the faithful rendition of the song lyrics, that Ilse Plume also presents in meticulously descriptive detail how one generally plays The Farmer in the Dell to the fact that Plume's enchanting Pennsylvania Dutch inspired accompanying pictures provide a glowingly tender and realistic portrait of history, culture and lifestyle, not to mention that the included complete musical score for the Farmer in the Dell song is very much the icing on the cake for me, as sadly, much too often, with picture book versions of both popular and traditional songs, the musical scores are often not considered, are not included or are only partially presented). And truly, the only reason why I am ranking The Farmer in the Dell with four and not yet with five stars is simply that personally, I would want the book to be a trifle larger in format and physical size, as I do have to wonder if parents, teachers etc. who might actually want to use The Farmer in the Dell as a lively circle game could perhaps find the rather small size of the book's physical dimensions somewhat diffcult with a large group of children singing and dancing (and of course likely also wanting to take a gander at Ilse Plume's detailed and evocative illustrations).

[Shiloah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those pictures!

[Godine Publisher & Black Sparrow Press · Rating 5 out of 5]

"[Plume:] puts an Amish spin on the oft-sung favorite with lovely, old-fashioned, colored-pencil scenes and border designs inspired by Pennsylvania Dutch motifs and folk art....An elegant tribute to an American classic."
–Kirkus Reviews

[Sally]

I'd like to check out this illustrator.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

song book, great for music classes. explanation in back of book of how to do circle game affiliated with song. illustrations in book are highlighted with Penn Dutch art style.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Singing a book can be so much more fun than just reading, in part because everyone can sing along. This one does a good job with appropriate pictures and the well-known folk song.

[KC · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated accompaniment to the song.

[E & E’s Mama · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t familiar with this folk song, but Elliot loves it and requested it often. The illustrations of a Pennsylvania Dutch family on their farmstead is gentle and reminds me of simpler times of old. There are instructions on the last page to play the circle game based on this song.

*library book. Read to Elliot at 21 months

[Kelly Wickham · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic all the way around. This song book is very enticing to children and they love to sing along to the very chipper and easy melody. This version, illustrated by Ilse Plume is very old-fashioned looking and the pictures take you back in time to a slower period of living. Fun and soothing for both adults and children.

[Marcos Cortes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The farmer in the Dell .

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

the farmer in the dell song illustrated with the song words. All age groups.