The Rickety Barn Show [Hardcover]

Jemma Beeke (Author), Lynne Chapman (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 13, 2001 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Everyone wants to get into the act when the farm animals put on a show!

Everyone is invited to join in the fun at the Rickety Barn Show. Jasper the cat will sing -- miiaaoow -- and Sniggle the pig will play his bugle -- toot toot. The hens will dance, the cows will juggle -- smash! -- and the sheep will do acrobatics. Even the grouchy old horse will recite a poem. Putting on a show is so much fun that all the animals want to get into the act -- but then who will be left to watch? It really doesn't matter, because everyone is having the time of their lives performing in the greatest show of all!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This cheerful cumulative tale from a British team begins when Jasper the cat confides to Sniggle the pig that he will be singing at the Rickety Barn Show. Sniggle, not wanting to be left out, says he can play backup. A nosy chicken overhears Sniggle's music-making and proposes an all-hen dance revue. Soon, every animal on the farm is preparing a routine. At curtain time, they anxiously await their audience until Sniggle announces, "There's nobody to watch the show... because... we're all in it!" Undeterred, the acrobatic sheep, tea-set-juggling cows and emcee collie launch into an enthusiastic performance. Chapman fills the festive closing spread with vaudevillian antics, as a pompous plowhorse in a bow tie recites poetry amidst flying crockery and feathers. The almond-eyed, smiling animals appear to be enjoying themselves enormously, and notations like "La-dee-dah!" and "Toot! Toot!" provide sound effects. Beeke visits each creature in turn, presenting ample opportunity to whinny, baa and moo the dialogue, and she concludes with helpful suggestions for putting on another Rickety Barn Show. Those seeking an interactive project for preschoolers might find some amiable inspiration here. Ages 4-8.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2-Jasper the cat wants to put on a show for all of the animals in the barn, so he creates an ad, and then starts to practice his singing. When Sniggle the pig sees the poster, he wants to participate, and begins a one-pig band. The hens want to sing and dance, and the horse, sheep, cows, and sheepdog also want in on the act. At show time, all of the performers gather in the barn and wait for the audience to arrive. When no one comes, they realize that everyone is in the show, and they entertain themselves. This amusing but slight tale is accompanied by colorful abstract-style paintings that add humor to the story. The final spread, showing all the animals performing at once, as well as the dancing chickens on the endpapers, are particularly comical.-Anne Parker, Milton Public Library, MA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young Readers (February 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385327951
• ISBN-13: 978-0385327954
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,333,178 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I have some old curtains in my basement, and you have your Mom's old gown--Let's Put on a Show!, November 18, 2006

By 

M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rickety Barn Show (Hardcover)

In the tradition of old Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland films, wide-eyed calico cat Jasper suddenly declares. "I'll put on a show." He paints a sign announcing his solo act, "The Rickety Barn Show", for his intended audience of long-legged sheep, various fowl, a floppy-eared pig, a relaxing dog, and the other barnyard animals pictured on the opening, panoramic, two-page spread. Jasper discovers, with some disappointment, that each member of his intended audience wants to join him in the "Rickety Barn Show. Sniggle offers to put together a "one pig band," and when Suzie sees him, she offers to dance along with a chorus of other chickens! The news spreads fast (the animals sees others practicing their acts), and in the best storytelling tradition, the energy flows into an increasing stream of outrageous fun. Unknown to Jasper (except for the pig), the other animals enthusiastically decide to join the `Show,'' often in very unexpected (and very humorous) ways.

The horse, to "bring an air of dignity to the proceedings....will be reciting a short poem that I will make up specially." Flora the sheep starts practicing "acrobatics," and builds a sheep pyramid, cow Chloe's juggling act practice turns into a riot of plates and cups flung wildly over the grazing field. Fortunately, Jasper welcomes all the new acts. However, when show time arrives, the animals wait and wait and wait; no one shows up. Can your young one figure out why? Sniggle does:

"'There's nobody to watch the show,' he laughed, `because... [turn the page] ...we're all in it!'" "'The show must go on", concludes Jasper, and so it does, in one final spread, a riot of color and action, as the animals perform their acts at the same time. They're simultaneously actor and audience. In a way, that's how the book feels too, because the informal, slightly nonsensical plot and the vivid, zany pictures seem so tuned into the mind of a toddler or K-2nd grader. I loved the sheer sense of fun in Beeke and Chapman's book, the sense of spontaneity, and the surprising, varied talents of the animals! It celebrates individuality, while showing also the rewards of collaboration--even when one's plans don't go quite as intended.

5.0 out of 5 stars A favorite of preschoolers, November 15, 2010

By 

AFConnors - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rickety Barn Show (Hardcover)

This book is one of my favorites for reading to the young children I teach. The cat at the farm decides to put on a show, and one by one more animals join in - but when it's time for the show, there's no audience, because they're all in the show! So they put on the show and have a great time anyway.I make up a little tune which we repeat when the animals say, "The Rickety Barn Show!" The children love to sing like the cat, dance like the chickens, etc. I like it because it seems like children don't spontaneously "put on shows" just for fun as much as they used to - this story encourages singing, dancing, and creativity. P.S. The pictures are very cute too!

4.0 out of 5 stars Frienship, Entertainment, and Animals, October 24, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Rickety Barn Show (Hardcover)

The book is really cute. It involves a cat who wants to put on a show for his farm animal friends, however everyone he tells that he is going to put on a show wants to be in the show. When it is time for the show they find out that there is nobody in the audience because they all worked together to be in the show. Nice book to show cooperation.