FARMER DOOGIE

Farmer Doogie is a good and handy—and busy soul. In this call-and-response book for the very young, Curry (Nosy Rosy, not reviewed, etc.) draws him in broad strokes and flat planes of soft color: cream of tomato red, washed browns and greens. “What does Farmer Doogie do?” is asked on every other page. Why, the answer is: he collects eggs, counts sheep, picks apples, and opens his farm stand. And when a rascally crow drops an apple core down the exhaust pipe of Farmer Doogie’s tractor and the engine goes cough-cough, he gets his tools and fixes that tractor. He fixes the crow, too (which is now eating the seed in Farmer Doogie’s field) by making a scarecrow to put the bird to flight. Curry has given both the text and the illustrations a generous dose of warmth, from the white whiskers in Farmer Doogie’s chin, to the lively company of farmer animals that accompany Farmer Doogie on his rounds, to the scarecrow, which might scare the crow but surely not the young readers, who ought to be clamoring for a visit to the local farm by the close of this title. (Picture book. 2-4)