Beyond Old Macdonald: Funny Poems from Down on the Farm

by Charley Hoce, Eugenie Fernandes (Illustrator)

Old MacDonald had a farm, but what did that oink-oink pig and honk-honk goose really do? They had all sorts of escapades, as readers will discover in this collection of silly, rhyming poems about farm life. Charley Hoce taps his twenty-two years as a classroom teacher to write verse that is perfectly pitched to young children's (sometimes corny) sense of humor. And he's deliberately woven in language skills that young children need to practice. "Children love puns, homophones, idioms, and anything that turns convention upside down," says Charley. So a sheep goes on the lam, a cow wears a dress that makes her calves look small, a bull literally teeters in a china shop. Old MacDonald's farm has never been so much fun!

Genres: Picture Books, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2005

Reviews

[Abigail]

American elementary school teacher and author Charley Hoce and Canadian illustrator Eugenie Fernandes team up in this amusing collection of farm poetry for the picture book set. The thirty selections here describe the antics the animals get up to on the farm in silly rhymes, while the colorful artwork captures the zany fun. Nimbly worded, these poems makes use of wordplay and language skills like puns, idioms, personification and homophones, all laid out in a chart at the rear of the book...

Published in 2005, Beyond Old MacDonald: Funny Poems from Down on the Farm is the only book Hoce has published, which seems a shame as it is quite entertaining. I sought it out because of the illustrator, having enjoyed Eugenie Fernandes' artwork in her own Kitten's Autumn , but ended up appreciating it as much for the text as for the visuals. Young readers and listeners will enjoy the clever wordplay and silly humor of this one, I think, as well as the bright artwork. It would work well as a read-aloud at story-time or one-on-one at bedtime, and also for use in the classroom, when discussing some of the language skills mentioned above. Recommended for those purposes, and to picture book audiences who just appreciate silly humor.

[Taylor Galloway]

A humorous take on the classic tale of Old Macdonald brings readers through the life of the farm animals and all the crazy things they are now doing. When reading the jacket information about the author I learned he was actually a teacher for twenty-two years at the time he wrote this book. The author used his knowledge to ensure that language skills young children need practice with was included throughout the poems. Since this book contains critical skills children need to develop this is a book that I would want inside my classroom. The added use of puns, idioms, and homophones are just extra beneficial and will help strengthen children's language skills.

[Cindy]

"Old MacDonald had a farm, but what did that oink-oink pig and honk-honk goose really do? They had all sorts of escapades, as readers will discover in this collection of silly, rhyming poems about farm life. Charley Hoce taps his twenty-two years as a classroom teacher to write verse that is perfectly pitched to young children's (sometimes corny) sense of humor. And he's deliberately woven in language skills that young children need to practice. "Children love puns, homophones, idioms, and anything that turns convention upside down," says Charley. So a sheep goes on the lam, a cow wears a dress that makes her calves look small, a bull literally teeters in a china shop. Old MacDonald's farm has never been so much fun!" Amazon
Library Use: The best part of this book is the Wordplay guide on the back page. It lists poems, page numbers and language skills that are used in each poem. A perfect book to help teach puns, personification, idioms, and homophones. Thank you Mr. Hoce.
Themes: wordplay, farm life, poetry

[Emily]

Old MacDonald had a farm, but what did that oink-oink pig and honk-honk goose "really do? They had all sorts of escapades, as readers will discover in this collection of silly, rhyming poems about farm life. Charley Hoce taps his twenty-two years as a classroom teacher to write verse that is perfectly pitched to young children's (sometimes corny) sense of humor. And he's deliberately woven in language skills that young children need practice with (but don't tell them that). "Children love puns, homophones, idioms, and anything that turns convention upside down," says Charley. So a sheep goes on the lam, the cow wears a dress that makes her calves look small, a bull literary teeters in a China shop, and, well, you get the picture. And speaking of pictures, illustrator Eugenie Fernandes says she had a blast providing the art because it's always fun to be silly.

[Courtney Weber]

Personal Reaction:
This book made me laugh on nearly every page. This is something that does not happen very often when I read books. I do not read a lot for fun so usually what I am required to read is not funny. It got me laughing and although there were tons of poems in this book, I read every last page!

Purpose:
This book would be good for first and second graders. It would be good to start a project over writing your own poetry and trying to write a silly poem about your pet, or a friends pet. This would be a good introduction into how to write your own poetry with rhymes as well as making it silly. This will keep students engaged and interested in poetry rather than always needing to analyze and find the deeper meaning in poetry.

[Kindal Kottman]

This book truly goes beyond old MacDonald. The story is told through poems of all the crazy things the animals on Old Macdonald farm are now doing. They are no longer just making their typical animal noises. The sheep have now gone wild and are out dirt bike riding. The pigs have begun to dance and playing drums with their feet, and my all time favorite line of the whole book was when “the horses started a union to demand more oats and hey. But they were never passed to motion since they always voted, NEIGH! What a historical fun book for children. I loved it.

[Amy Scott]

This is such a cute children's poetry book! The book is filled with poems about life on a farm and they are very silly and fun. These poems will definitely keep the attention of even young Preschool age kids. While I was reading the inside jacket I learned that the author was actually a teacher for more than 20 years and he used his experience to write these poems specifically for kids. It also says he wrote in some things for kinds to learn about while reading, including homophones and idioms. It was a very fun read!