FARM

Agriculture receives exhaustive treatment in this text-laden picture book about people, animals and fields on the farm from the beginning to the end of the growing season. While the language rings lyrical and pure, it dominates, detracting from the dappled watercolor-and-line illustrations. Blocks of white space, chunks of text and small watercolor vignettes alternate across double-page spreads, capturing the endless activity of farm life but also creating a disjointed reading experience. When Cooper delivers panoramic vistas of the farm, its barns, fields and big sky, he leaves readers awestruck. Elementary-school readers will fidget, however, as this long picture book continues to deliver details about planting, tilling, the girl, the cat, the cow and weather changes. Their eyes will flit across pages, across too many words and pockets of illustration that leave them jumbled, tired and wishing this farm offered more wide-open spaces and quiet. (Informational picture book. 6-8)