Punk Farm [Hardcover]

Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

After a long day of work, Farmer Joe goes home to bed.

But meanwhile, back at the barn . . .
Cow sets up her drums.
Pig plugs in his amp.
Goat tunes his bass.
Chicken sets up her keyboards.
And Sheep checks the microphone.

They are Punk Farm and tonight they're ready to ROCK!

With adorable farm animals - and a surprise tribute to Old MacDonald - this rollicking tale is sure to have kids cheering--and singing--along.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2-After Farmer Joe heads to bed, Cow, Goat, Pig, Sheep, and Chicken pull out their instruments and electronic equipment, don their shades, and transform themselves into the rock band Punk Farm. Animals line up outside the barn to buy tickets, then settle in for a rousing show featuring a way-out version of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm," with each musician doing a solo. At sunrise, a none-the-wiser Farmer Joe finds his sound-asleep livestock not quite ready for "a big day of work." Single- and double-page cartoon-style paintings combine muddy and bold colors to contrast the earthy farm setting with the energy, edginess, and excitement of the concert. Print, mostly white drop-out, is used effectively, juxtaposing traditional block style for the narrative with a larger, more graphic layout of the same typeface to suggest the distinctive musical sound. The eye-popping orange and purple front cover sets the scene and contrasts with the muted blues, browns, and greens of the back cover depicting the fabulous five in the barnyard, post-event. The fun is carried onto the endpapers, which feature a montage of posters, torn tickets, publicity "photos" of the band, and scrawled notebook pages. Quite a romp.-Marie Orlando, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 2. At the end of a long day, Farmer Joe heads for bed. Back in the barn, a band of his animals prepare to rehearse for their rock concert later that night. Cow and Chicken set up drums and keyboard, while Pig and Goat tune their guitar and bass and vocalist Sheep tests the mike. At the performance, they play their version of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm," with riffs on their instruments instead of the usual animal sounds. Their frantic fans go wild. Krosoczka says on the back flap that he had childhood daydreams of rock stardom, but even kids who've never picked up an air guitar will enjoy the droll humor. The paintings, which start out simple and bucolic, become increasingly jazzy as the band heats up, climaxing in a frenzy of form and color, then reverting to a quiet scene when morning brings Farmer Joe back to the barn. For parents and teachers who want an audio version, the book's Web site features a downloadable version of the song. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (April 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375824294
• ISBN-13: 978-0375824296
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 0.4 x 10.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #823,019 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jarrett J. Krosoczka is the author and illustrator of several picture books and middle grade graphic novels. Krosoczka received a contract for his first book just six months after graduating from Rhode Island School of Design. His award-winning books have since been short-listed in several national publications and have grabbed the attention of Hollywood-- the Punk Farm and Lunch Lady series are both currently in development as feature films.

With new picture books and new Lunch Lady books on the horizon, Krosoczka is happily living out his childhood dream in Northampton, MA, where he resides with his wife and daughter and their pug, Ralph Macchio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars animal anarchy!, August 4, 2005

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An Amazon customer (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Punk Farm (Hardcover)

What a great book! My 4 year old son loves the colorful pictures and the funny story in this large-format book. We read this book every night a bedtime, and it's still funny to both us. How many books can you say that about (not counting Dr Seuss)?

This book is so wonderful because (1) the writing is simple yet descriptive, as well as current.

(2) the illustrations are rich, warm and very funny.

(3) the subject matter is appealing to preschoolers (who are little anarchists anyway) and their parents. Don't worry, the anarchy the animals do is just to stay up late and play a concert for their fellow farm animals.

The story is similar to "Giggle Giggle Quack" and "Click Clack Moo," -- there is a farmer who makes the mistake of leaving the animals alone, and they go wild (in a good way). The twist is that the band of animals does a punk version of "Old MacDonald!" Hilarity ensues.

Introducing Punk Farm:

Sheep - vocals. Sample quote "Are you ready to rock?"
Pig - guitar. Grimaces and plays guitar behind his head
Chicken - keyboards. Stands on her keyboard at the end of the song
Goat - bass. Sample quote: "Whatever Dude."

Punk Farm plays "Old Macdonald" to a barn full of fans. Each page is one verse of the song, featuring a band member "wailing" on their instrument. At the end of the song, the sheep says to the audience, "Thank you, Wisconsin!"

This is a modern children's classic, right up there with the two aforementioned farm animal books, and "I Stink," "I'm Mighty," and "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus."

(...)

Hey, ho, let's go!

-- a 40-ish Mom and librarian

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars old mcdonald rock out, July 3, 2006

By 

nasirah "proud mommy" (atlanta, ga usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Punk Farm (Hardcover)

initially, we borrowed this book from the library and we loved it so we had to buy it. my daughter loves the song "old mcdonald" and jarrett j krosoczka puts a rocking twist to the whole thing. when we read the book together, i sing punk farm's rendition and she wiggles/dances in my lap!:0D an added bonus--you can download the song from the website! good times!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad., March 30, 2009

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Punk Farm (Hardcover)

Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Punk Farm (Knopf, 2005)

Amusing kids' book, if far slighter than most of those I've seen in the past few years. Basically a lot of setup for a rocked-out rendition of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" (much more amusing at the book's website, [....], than it is in print). In my estimation, the younger the child, the better, on this one, and it'll require a reader who's good at acting out sounds. (Check out the recorded song for an idea of what the sound effects should sound like; the words don't really give you much to go on.) Fun stuff, but your kid may grow out of it faster than other books. ***