Color Farm

by Lois Ehlert

On this form you can view
Animal ears and whiskers too.
Lots of animals to be found,
Shapes and colors ail around.
Look at beaks and snouts with me.
Make some more for us to see.

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children 1990 (NSTA/CBC)
Parenting Honorable Mention, Reading Magic Award

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Mathematics, Storytime, Art, Fiction

14 pages, Board Book

First published September 30, 1990

About the author

Lois Ehlert has created numerous inventive, celebrated, and bestselling picture books, including Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Holey Moley, The Scraps Book, Mice, Ten Little Caterpillars, RRRalph, Lots of Spots, Boo to You!, Leaf Man, Waiting for Wings, Planting a Rainbow, Growing Vegetable Soup, and Color Zoo, which received a Caldecott Honor. She lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Reviews

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not as exciting as Color Zoo but feels wonderful on the gums while teething.

[Beverly Hendricks]

Text-to-Teaching

Color Farm by Lois Ehlert is a vibrant and geometric haven of possibilities wrapped in a book. I enjoyed a change of pace in this book. This books offers lots geometric shapes and when they are put together they form animals. The bright yellow cover introduces its readers to triangles, squares, circles, hexagons, ovals,and hearts to make a rooster. Young readers can read this participating book and enjoy creating animals or other works of art of their choosing. I would allow students to cut out shapes and create whatever they choose. This book introduces a possible career of architecture and engineering, while still encouraging the creativity of the arts. Thank you STEAM.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit - I thought this book would be boring. But it was actually kind of fun to see the shapes turning into animals - very clever. You kids will love learning shapes and colors with this.

Ages: 2 - 6

Here’s our book favs on color: watch my reel!

Content Considerations: nothing to note.

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[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully creative cut paper book of colors, animals, shapes and more that would be perfect for sharing one on one with children around 5+ years of age.

[Alex Gallaher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: Color Farm
Author/Illustrator: Lois Ehlert
Genre: Toy Book
Theme: Farm Animals
Opening Line:
“On this farm you can view, animals ears and whiskers too.”
Brief Summary:
Color farm is a toy book that uses shapes to create images of animals. The overlapping of cutouts on each page leads you to the next surprise!
Review 1:
Horn Book
http://www.hornbookguide.com/cgi-bin/...
“Ehlert uses an array of brilliant graphics with carefully planned die-cuts to introduce a number of geometric shapes discovered in the visages of familiar farm animals. In the concluding double-page spread, the entire cast is assembled for review, bringing the book to a colorful conclusion.”
Review 2:
Publishers Weekly
https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-...
“The book will also encourage awareness of and experimentation with the ways shapes combine to form--or even simply suggest--the objects in our world.”
Response:
The Horn Book mentions the pleasant conclusion to the Color Farm by the culmination of all the animals together. This becomes a useful tool for reflecting on what was seen throughout the story. Publisher’s Weekly refers to the “electric pallete” used in the illustrations, and I agree that they are extremely alluring to readers.
Evaluation:
The illustrations in this book are quite straightforward with central location and it’s extreme contrast. This truly sucks the reader in to what is created on the pages with the different shapes. Lacking a story line does not stop this story from being realistic. The characters (farm animals) are relevant to many children and tend to spark more interest than human characters, also adding to the engagement.
Application: This story would be difficult to put into classroom use because it is geared for such young readers. I could see practical use as an example when asking children to create something from geometric shapes. For Young students, it might make sense to continue the story after read aloud by looking in depth at each animal in the book.

[Jacqueline Pasillas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lois Ehlert really expressed the creative ways basic shapes and colors can be combined to create farm animals. In this book, she encourages the reader to visualize and recognize every shape used to create an animal. In one of the first pages, she asks the reader to help her create more animal.s for everyone to see. She uses a lot of bold colors like red, orange, purple, blue, and black. Most of the pages have a shape cut out so you can see through to the next page and the next and the next. Ehlert is the type of artist who likes to create art out of different shapes and in this picture book she did it well. This would be a great book to share with the little ones who are being introduced to shapes. It is an easy read with usually one word on each page.

[Kaitlyn Rozeboom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Color Farm Board Book is full of colors, shapes, and animals. The author expressed different ways shapes and colors can combine to creatively make animals. It is a visually engaging book where readers are asked to visualize their own animals and use their imagination. Images are shown on the right side of the book and as you flip the pages it makes different animals. I love this book because it is sort of like a mystery for children when they read it. It allows them to create pictures in their minds rather than just being told information. It has textured board pages to help be more engaging and fun to turn the pages.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great at teaching colors and shapes in a very hands-on way. The bright colors and die-cut shapes help to reader to focus just on them. This book also teaches readers that many things in nature, in this case on a farm, are made up of shapes. I particularly like how Lois Ehlert includes summary pages in her book, like on pages 30-31 where she shows all the animals on those two pages that she showed previously in her book. I also like how Lois Ehlert labels everything very clearly to help her reader understand what they are seeing.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Geometric shapes form a series of farm animals.

Although this picture book is titled Color Farm, it teaches shapes and the names of common farm animals rather than colors. The colors are bold and bright, and the design is visually stimulating. Using cut-outs, a series of overlaid shapes transform into different animals on the recto and then display a shape on the verso as the reader turns the pages.

[Rachael Marsceau · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took my having a child for me to discover and fall in love with these colorful, slightly-dated, totally awesome cut-out books from the 90s. They're such a fun way to learn shapes, colors, animals, numbers, etc.! Peter and I are having fun looking for more at the library.

[Sterlande Altidor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book to my son. This is a great book to teach children about color. This book is such a fun book to read to children. This is also a great book to teach children about the importance of sharing and playing in a fun way.

[Olivia Schneider · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title is misleading, the colors are never mentioned. Yes, there are many different colors however they are never brought up. I wanted to read a book about colors and animals, not animals and shapes.

[Read Ribbet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This award-winning concept book by favorite author/illustrator Lois Ehlert celebrates shapes and animals in clever cut outs and bold colors. This is the ype of engaging book that should be in the hands of early readers.

[Everett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very creative art with shapes, colors, and animals.

[Whitney Leanhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contained so many colors and animals! Color Farm would be wonderful to read in lower age classrooms, any child would enjoy looking over all the creative pages.

[Katelynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book because it’s versatile. You can use it with babies, toddlers, and preschoolers to review colors, shapes, and animals. A little more complex than Color Zoo!

[Ad Astra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool idea. But the animals aren't really recognized by my toddler. More interesting for shapes and colors.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

No plot, but clever die cut shapes stacked to make common farm animals.

[D Fichera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abstract but cute idea for showing animals w shapes. Each page could have talked more about the shapes.

[Hana aka the Mermaid Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of JeffCo Public Library's Stories To Go "Colors" package.

[Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I liked it because it was animals and shapes!" --Isaac, age 5

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A similar book to "Color Zoo," my 20-month-old wanted to look at this book again and again.

[EMD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ella enjoyed being able to poke her finger through the shape cutouts!

[Marlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read and fun to discover how the shapes change with the animals. Caution - all my preschoolers said the sheep is creepy.

[Raraanir · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely amazing.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Toddler

[Rachel Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

My baby really enjoyed tracking the bright colors and shapes.

[Jenn Kause · Rating 5 out of 5]

great story time book for colors, animals, and shapes!

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful concept book about colors, shapes and farm animals.

[Gabrielle Stoller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Color Zoo better but it's still a great foray into shapes and animals