FARM by Elisha Cooper
Most picture books about farms tend to be slapstick animal adventures rather than realistic views of daily life. Cooper’s latest fills that gap with a quiet, atmospheric portrait of a farm through the seasons. Working in his signature style of loosely rendered figures and simple compositions in pencil and watercolor, Cooper combines beautiful, expansive views of a farm seen from a distance under an endless sky with small, individual images, such as the farm’s cats, which younger children will want to point to and count. Like the pictures, the words move from large landscapes to small details. Filled with sensory details, the brief text has a poetic, stripped-down simplicity that matches the stark images and will read aloud well. Cameo appearances of the farm’s animals and children will help hold young people’s attention throughout this subtle, handsome view of modern, rural life.
