Barn Dance! - Hardcover

PreSchool-K—Horse, Sheep, and Pig want to dance on a moonlit night but worry that their leaping and bouncing may wake their little ones (who are not really asleep). They put some straw on the floor to muffle the sound and start to frolic, but one by one their exuberance lands them in trouble, and they retire to the bed of hay. Once they are asleep, the youngsters go outside to cavort until sunrise. The action appears on single pages and spreads framed by white borders. The bright gouache illustrations reflect the happy mood of the animals, but the pictures follow the text exactly and do not add anything special to the story. For some unexplained reason, the mother horse, pig, and sheep all have a blue flower tucked behind their right ears, which is distracting. Although the rhyme is cheerful, the story is slight. With so many other books about dancing farm animals available, including Bill Martin, Jr.'s Barn Dance! (Holt, 1986), this one is not an essential purchase.—Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association, CT
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