  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 06/01/2013 PreS-Gr 2—Henry likes to keep things organized, so he decides to make a map of the farm. As he travels the barnyard drawing his own pigsty, the woolshed and sheep, the chicken coop, and the stables, the other animals are excited by his project and join him. Map finished, the piglet leads them proudly up the hill to compare the map to the farm itself-only to find that none of the animals are where they are supposed to be. "Where did we go?" they ask. They dash back to check each location, and when they arrive, they are relieved to find everyone in the right place. With appealing characters and gentle humor, this book will be a hit at storytime, or as an introduction to mapping lessons. Elliot's squiggly watercolor and pencil illustrations make clever use of white space, with the pictures expanding as the confusion of the story does and receding as Henry's world becomes orderly once again.—Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Bulletin for the Center... - 09/01/2013 “Henry was a very organized sort of pig,” so organized that he decides to map his surroundings to make sure everyone and everything is in its proper place on the farm. He first draws his own sty on his map, then proceeds to the woolshed, adding it and its three sheep inhabitants, then adds the tree and its adjacent cow, the stable and the horse, and the coop and its hens. As he adds each new location, the farm animals fall in behind him to see what’s next on the map until finally all of them are atop the hill, looking down at the farm below and comparing it to Henry’s map. The animals are dismayed to find that, although the map shows them in their places, when they look down on the farm, all those places are now empty. Everyone quickly rushes back to their appointed spots, making Henry’s map correct once more, and Henry happily refers to his mantra: “A place for everything and everything in its place.” The story is simple, but kids will enjoy the moment of feeling smarter than the farm animals as the creatures puzzle out why they are on the map but not in their actual places. The text is crisp and brisk, and the animals’ dialogue makes this a lively choice for a readaloud. The pencil and watercolor illustrations, done in subdued tones, are casually drawn, with slightly scribbly lines depicting the animals’ fur, feathers, or wool. The sheep are particularly comical as they swing from the tree branch, ride on the horse’s back, or hold hooves with each other. Use this as an intro to a simple map-making activity, or share it in a farm- or pig-themed storytime. JH - Copyright 2013 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Loading...
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