Farm Text Set

Here it is! My sample farm text set. 

I made this text set after our trip to Eugster's Farm at the beginning of the summer. Some of these books were gifted to us, some were library or classroom discards, one is from my childhood collection, and most are from the public library. I will tell you about them, one by one, and why they were chosen for this text set/what makes them unique. 

Fiction 

Buttercup's Lovely Day is a book of poems written from a cow's perspective! Age 2 is a little on the low end for this book that has beautiful and at times slightly complex language. Each poem begins with a line like "I love the sun" or "I love the creek" or "I love the man." It describes the cow's day and everything that she sees and smells. Lots of good sound words to describe the water in the creek and the winding paths, etc. 

Puppies and Piggies is one that Caroline likes to read over and over. It is a rhyming book with three lines describing what each animal at the farm likes to do. The illustrations are cute. A baby comes in at the end of the book. This one was perfect for Caroline who loves puppies and babies. 

Chicken, Chicken, Duck! is a short read that will make the adults laugh and the kids might not get it. It has the names and pictures of several farm animals and the sounds they make. At the end, they make a big tower of animals. 

Curious George's Day at the Farm came in a book of six Curious George stories. This one would also be good for older children who can count up to twenty. There are a couple of activity pages asking the reading to count the number of hens and chicks, find objects the farmer needs to milk the cows and identify colors. 

Our copy of Mary Had a Little Lamb is a discarded book from a school library. The book tells the story of the song in pictures with a line of the song on each page. Caroline enjoys singing the song while we read the book. 

Sally at the Farm was chosen because it contains dogs and farms. Sally visits the farm, meets another dog and helps with some basic farm tasks. It's short and sweet. I think the board book is based on another, larger book. 

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type was a gift for Caroline's first birthday. The first time I read it, I wished that I had written it myself. I laughed so much. Adults will appreciate the humor more than the children, but it still helps them make the connection that milk comes from cows and eggs come from chickens. 

Ask Mr. Bear is one of my childhood books! This one is fun to do with different voices for the animals. Each animal offers to give Danny something for his mother's birthday like eggs, feathers, milk, cheese, etc. It ends with a big bear hug. You can never have too many of those, right? 

Good Morning, Farm Friends describes all the animals waking up on the farm. It's a rhyming book. Great for beginning to identify the farm animals. This book was a Dolly Parton's Imagination Library book for Caroline. 

Nonfiction

Farm Dogs would be better for a slightly older reader (around 4-7). It teaches how different dogs help on farms. 

Seasons on a Farm has all the text features of a nonfiction book like a table of contents and different sections with headings. This would be a great introduction to the features of nonfiction texts. It even has a glossary in the back! The text is very simple and easy to understand for toddlers. Learn what happens on a farm in every season. 

Animals on the Farm: Goats Did you know goats have a rectangular pupil??? I noticed this on our trip to Eugster's farm and got this book to find out more about goats. The book explains that the rectangular pupil helps them see in the dark. I love this book because it is set up as a series of questions that Caroline always answers out loud. It's so cute. "Do you see my soft lips?" "Do." "They help me eat hay." You and your child will both learn a lot about goats in this book, and the text level is perfect for toddlers. It's another fantastic nonfiction book-- glossary included. Check out the other 7 books in the series Animals on the Farm. 

A Ball of Wool is nonfiction for older readers (around age 4-7). It describes how wool is made. This was a classroom library discard. 

The Milk Makers is another nonfiction text for older readers (around ages 6-10). However, you could paraphrase it for a younger child. This book is so accurate! We just visited a dairy, and everything I saw was exactly like this book. Highly recommend. 

Songs

Many children's songs are about farms or farm animals. You could make a farm playlist for the drive to or from the farm. This what I could think of: 

• The Farmer in the Dell
• Mary Had a Little Lamb
• Old McDonald Had a Farm 
• Down on Grandpa's Farm 
• Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley Grow
• Baa, Baa Black Sheep
• BINGO 

What other materials would you recommend for this text set?