Don't Count on It! No Sleep for the Sheep by Karen Beaumont

In the big red barn on the farm, on the farm, in the big red barn on the farm... A sheep fell asleep in the big red barn, in the big red barn on the farm.

Sheep is ready to sleep, teddy bear under his arm, and he is not counting on helping anyone else get to sleep tonight. Settled down in the fresh hay in a comfy stall, with only by a tiny yellow chick for a roommate, sheep is already snoring away soundly when he is disturbed by a dissonant sound that blasts him out of his somnolent state:

Then there came a loud QUACK at the door, at the door, and the sheep couldn't sleep any more.

Disgruntled, the sheep staggers sleepily to the door and escorts the duck to the stall with whispered instructions:

"Go to sleep" said the sheep, to the duck at the door. "And please don't QUACK any more!"

Even the teddy bear looks grumpy as the disheveled sheep, the duck, and the chick resettle themselves in the stall for what sheep obviously hopes will at last be undisturbed slumber. But in the best tradition of the venerable cumulative tale, this dream is not to be. Sheep is constantly roused from his snores by a succession of supposedly sleepless animals--a goat, pig, a cow, and as horse--who Baa!, Oink!, Moo!, and Neigh! their way in to seek a snooze with Sheep in the increasingly snugger stall, with Chick constantly forced to clamber atop the pile to avoid being squashed. With the huge horse hogging half the sleeping space, there is definitely no room in the stable!

"Shhhh! Not a peep! Go to sleep!" said the sheep.

But there's ONE more farm animal who hasn't yet gotten the message, whose identity is hinted at by the light of dawn glimpsed through the window as the heap of animals finally drifts off to sleep together:

"COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOO!"

In Karen Beaumont's forthcoming No Sleep for the Sheep! (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011), sheep attempts to sleep in but chick gets the last word, (a PEEP!), in a inventive reworking of the traditional always-room-for-one-more premise. As always, Beaumont's verses are so rhythmical that young listeners will start joining in on the irresistible repetition as sheep issues his orders to each animal in turn.

But Beaumont's text virtually takes off when paired with Jackie Urbanovic's comic brown pencil and watercolor illustrations, which add immeasurably to the effect. Even the teddy, eyes always shut, has a role. and sheep's facial expressions are priceless as he is blasted from his slumbers by the pig and hugely hugged by the horse. Kids will gleefully pick up on the clever visual device by which Urbanovic telegraphs the identity of each approaching midnight visitor to the barn, even as each time sheep settles down to what he believes will finally be a good night's sleep. Both Beaumont (I Like Myself!, and I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! (Ala Notable Children's Books. Younger Readers (Awards))) and Jackie Urbanovic (Duck at the Door and sequels) are no strangers to best-sellerdom, and their No Sleep for the Sheep! looks like it's got all the right stuff to keep its readers wide awake and calling for more from this delightful duo!

Quackery: Thump, Quack, Moo: A Whacky Adventure by Doreen Cronin

It's almost time for the annual Corn Festival.

Farmer Brown is very excited. This year he's making a Statue of Liberty corn maze.

He's going to need help to get everything ready on time.

Farmer Brown pores over his reference book on corn mazes, sharpens his pencil, and and pulls together his art supplies, sketch book, graph paper, and his mower, ready to do the intellectual heavy lifting for this project. For the other kind of work, he calls on his barnyard crew. At first the chickens are not excited about fencing the corn field, but when Brown, um, eggs them on by letting them use his hammers, they get busy--Cluck Whack! Cluck Whack! Cluck Whack! The cows are likewise un-moo-ved by the task of sprucing up the barn until the farmer offers them his paint and brushes. In no time the cows are hard at work--Moo Thwack! Moo Thwack! Moo Thwack!

Farmer Brown knows Duck isn't going to lift a feather to help out until he lays down the options --"no help, no more special-order, organic duck feed!" Grumbling, Duck grabs some lumber and begins to build a ticket booth--Thump! Quack! Thump Quack! Thump Quack!

The barn mice stay out of the building trades, instead taking a correspondence course in meteorology. Their observation on the atmosphere around the farm?

PARTLY SUNNY

Of course, Duck is not one to take a backseat role. Every night, after Farmer Brown parks his mower, Duck gathers his art supplies, graph paper, sketch book, night-vision goggles, glow-in-the-dark ruler, and hedge clippers, and adds his own, er, vision to the project, as the meteorological mice observe

BAROMETRIC PRESSURE DROPPING

At last the opening day of the Corn Maze Festival arrives. The chickens' fence is a mess, the side of the barn is painted with heroic-sized bovine portraits, and Duck's ticket booth is customized with peepholes for his eyes and a quacking-good hole for his bill in the front. The barn mice have a last-minute forecast for the day:

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM!

But the biggest surprise comes when Farmer Brown boards the festive hot-air balloon to view his masterpiece from the skies. Duck waddles aboard as well, and when they soar over the site, Farmer Brown's jaw drops with amazement as a vertical foldout page reveals the product of his and Duck's a-maze-ing labors--a Duck of Liberty clearly cut into the corn patch! While the disgruntled farmer contemplates the results of his work, Duck (who luckily has brought along a parachute) bails out with a hearty "Geronimo!" And as Duck precipitates into the maze, the mice make their final weather observation:

PARTLY CLOUDY. CHANCE OF DUCK.

Thump, Quack, Moo: A Whacky Adventure is the latest in the humorous adventures of Farmer Brown's barnyard buddies, which include the best-seller Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, Giggle, Giggle, Quack, Dooby Dooby Moo, and the recently updated Duck for President.