Farmyard Beat

by Lindsey Craig, Marc Brown (Illustrator)

Author Lindsey Craig teams up with Arthur creator and bestselling artist Marc Brown in a toe-tapping farmyard dance-a-thon--perfect for toddler and preschooler read-alouds. As soon as the sun goes down, the animals are up! ("Sheep can't sleep. Sheep can't sleep. Sheep can't sleep 'cause they got that beat!") Before long, there's a giant farmyard dance party, complete with funny animal sounds. But what happens when all the racket wakes up Farmer Sue? Here's a colorful bedtime story that begs to be read aloud.

Winner OPPENHEIM BEST BOOK
Gold Award, 2011: FARMYARD BEAT

Winner WILDE AWARD
Picture Books, 2011: FARMYARD BEAT

Granite BEST PRESCHOOL BOOKS 2012
Books 4 FAVORITE BEDTIME STORIES 2011

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Animals, Childrens, Music, Fiction, Kids

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 14, 2011

About the author

Lindsey Craig  is the author of the award winning books: DANCING FEET and FARMYARD BEAT both illustrated by Marc Brown. Her books have won numerous awards and been highly praised by Kirkus Review (starred), Publisher Weekly and the New York Times Book Review; her awards include: NAAPA Gold Award Winner, Fred Rogers Best Baby Books 2011, Wilde Award Best Children’s Books, and inclusion in Texas 2X2 Reading List. She has published numerous alphabet and beginning readers for CJ Educations, and has just produced her first science app SOLAR SYSTEM SILLIES!. Her most recent books include the not-so-quiet: OH SO QUIET!, and the colorful and encouraging board books: TRY! TRY! TRY! and IN OUR TREE. Lindsey lives with her family and fat black cats on a beautiful island in Washington State.

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

You too will catch the beat of this fun and rhythmic story! A great read aloud that will have both child and adult singing and dancing along.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Woken by the peep-peep-peeping of the chicks, a series of other animals add their own sounds to the nighttime beat of the farmyard, until finally Farmer Sue hears them and comes to investigate.

Author Lindsey Craig and illustrator Marc Brown, who previously collaborated on the picture-book Dancing Feet! , join forces again in this poetic read-aloud, which features an engagingly rhythmic text and appealing collage artwork. These illustrations are in a different style from the ones Marc Brown created for his famous Arthur picture-books, but have a colorful and quirky sensibility of their own. Although it didn't make a particularly strong impression on me, I can see Farmyard Beat making an excellent read-aloud selection.

[Candice · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book about animals who just "can't sleep 'cause they got that beat!" The beat of one animal segues into the next animal who can't sleep. The sheep - "TAT! TAT! Tattity-tat-tat! All that racket wakes up...Cat!" With a foot-stompin' beat and colorful and fanciful collage pictures, this is loads of fun.

[Scottsdale Public Library]

Very fun and catchy rhyming story about restless farmyard animals and the sounds they make while dancing the night away. (They all "can’t sleep ‘cause they got that beat!”) The lines have an easy cadence that storytime listeners will catch on to quickly and say along with the reader. Enjoyable for toddlers and preschoolers alike! –Hannah V

[Bethanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I enjoy the concept of appreciating the musicality of a book, and was a big fan of the corrugated paper-like illustrations, I was left underwhelmed by this book. For starters, children are introduced to the sounds of some animals. However, some of the make noises that are unlike what children would associate with them (for example the sheep in this book don't "baaaa"). While this in itself isn't necessarily an issue, the book lacked consistency throughout. Additionally, the book is set up with a very specific rhyme scheme/spoken word pattern which is, again, inconsistent. Why are we introduced to the dog as "Hank" but all the other animals (except farmer Sue) remain nameless? Perhaps this is a nit-picky review, but I needed to put into words why my 50+ toddlers were less than enthusiastic about the title. It's a cute book, but did not shine compared to other titles I've selected as read-alouds.

[Westminster Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

This board book is great for all ages- The illustrations by Marc Brown are bright and colorful, created by utilizing a collage of various shapes and textures. Repetition of words and predictability of the story line make it a fun read aloud for the very young. Lots of opportunities for counting, shape and color recognition.

Find Farmyard Beat at the Westminster Public Library!

[Jessica Calaway · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading age
1 - 3 years

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple wording but has nice rhythm until the pattern gets disrupted. My 5&3 yos LOVED it!

[Ms. Shoshana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for animal noises and talking about beat/rhythm.

[Debbie Reiber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Farmyard Beat by Lindsey Craig is a children’s picture book. The age group this book is intended for is nursery. The book has a rhythm in the writing and it describes all the animals coming together because they have a beat that make them want to dance. I read this book electronically.
The illustrations by Marc Brown used a lot of lines for details; the background sky looked in motion. The colors were bright and the animals were drawn at different angles to show motion in their dancing. Craig used repetition and rhyming in the words and I thought she was going with the vocal sounds that the animals make, but not for the sheep and the cow. She made the sheep go “Tat!Tat! Tattitty-tat-tat!” which could be their hooves on the ground when they were dancing, but I think it would have been better with the consistency of the vocal noises of the animals. The ending was that after all the excitement they all fell asleep. Overall, I feel this is a good book for young readers. I think a child would probably get up and dance with the animals. The electronic version of the book was set up just as the book would have been; however, I still prefer the ink-on-paper version of the book.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful rhyming text that has all the animals in the barnyard up late at night, keeping the rhythm as they dance around the farmyard. Wonderful sound words and repetitive text for young readers. Great read aloud for PK-1 students. Collage art by Marc Brown creates depth to the farm animals as they dance around.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

In one word: rhythmic! The farmyard animals can't sleep because they just can't quiet the beat making its way across the farm. The cut paper illustrations are big and bright and all the animal noises will make this a very fun storytime read.

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Farm animals wake up in the night to make some noise. The farmer joins them, then they all dance until they pass out sleep. Sounds simple, but the book is chock full of fun rhymes, rhythms that incite movement and singing…or at least in me!

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colorful and fun. Great choice for a read aloud.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary:
The farm animals can't sleep because "they got that beat."

What a fun book! It will be a hard book to "beat" once you have young readers up and dancing and chanting with you!

[Liesl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and incredibly catchy! The many different sounds that the animals make are very creative and fun.

[Cosette · Rating 5 out of 5]

First time I've read a book that received an encore. Had to read this one twice.

[Kate]

"Rhythm" storytime, paired with Drum City and I Got the Rhythm

Craft activity: making drums & shakers from styrofoam cups. Shakers had some trouble due to glue taking longer to dry than anticipated.

Farmyard Beat was the biggest hit from this storytime. They had a great time shouting out the names of the different animals as we turned the pages, and the rhythm of this book encourages dancing and wiggling. Fun fun fun!

[Mrs Mommy Booknerd http://mrsmommybooknerd.blogspot.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

An adorable book that will have younger readers laughing in delight. It is so clever and fun. A book that brings the farm to life with a catchy beat! I cannot wait to use this book in my classes. Such a fun board book that is sure to become your child's favorite read-a-loud because it has a sing songy text. A great read.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's late at night but the farm is far from asleep... all of the animals have a farmyard beat tapping through their feet! The illustrations are reminiscent of collage work and there's a lot of onomatopoeia, all set to a fun beat. Lighthearted, even the farmer gets in on the dance before they all fall asleep in a heap.

[❂ Ann ❂ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for story time. The beats are cleverly disguised so that you're guessing just what farm animal might be on the next page. The animals each have their own beat from peep to jiggity jig to woof, whoo-whoo.

[Rachael Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pictures are my favorite part of this story. It would be fun to make it interactive but I am not sure that I see myself using this one for my story time. I would pull it out in a pinch but it wouldn't be my go-to.

[Jenn Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasn't a be fan of this at first. Then it was requested that I read it again, and I liked it more once I let myself get into it. Then it was requested that I read it multiple more times, so it was definitely a hit haha.

[Alicia Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

For: farm animal fans; readers looking for an interactive book with rhythm.

Possible red flags: some readers may find the interpretive nature of the words to be frustrating--non-traditional narrative.

[Mama Bearian · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Chicks can’t sleep. Chicks can’t sleep. Chicks can’t sleep ‘cause they got that beat!” The natural rhythm of this book will have you and your kiddo bopping along as the farm animals (and eventually Farmer Sue) join in.

[Michelle Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite board books to read to young kids. Great rhythm and cute illustrations. Multiple of my kids have essentially memorized the story at young ages because they have loved it so much and asked for it to be read over and over!

[Diana Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book about farm animals, the noises they make, and a fun party in the barn when the animals can't sleep. This book is a storytime favorite as it easy to get the kids and parents to "read along" with the repetitive phrases and animal noises. Bold, colorful illustrations!

[Ginny Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome! Like a rap song, almost, with the way the perfect rhythm helps you read the story at a fun pace. Also, fun to guess the next animal based on predictive rhyming.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun rhyming book about all the animals who can't sleep.

The illustrations are collages that look like many are made of corrugated paper.

[Ellie Dynek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminded me of Sandra Boynton's "Barnyard Dance", just a charming and delightful book :)