The Year At Maple Hill Farm

Maple Hill Farm

by Alice Provensen, Martin Provensen

This is a book about farm animals, and what happens during one year on a farm.
In January, the cows stay in the barnyard, and the chickens don't lay many eggs. By March, you can tell spring is the barn is filled with baby animals. Month by month, the animals at Maple Hill Farm sense the changing seasons and respond to the changes.
Through gently humorous text and charming illustrations, Alice and Martin Provensen capture one year at their beloved Maple Hill Farm in a way sure to delight city slickers and country folk alike.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Nature, Science, Pre K, Nonfiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Alice Provensen collaborated with her late husband, Martin, on numerous highly acclaimed picture books, including the Caldecott Medal-winning The Glorious Flight and Nancy Willard's Newbery Medal-winning A Visit to William Blake's Inn, which was also a Caldecott Honor Book. The Provensens have been on the New York Times list of the Ten Best Illustrated Books eight times.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

With an informative text, and expressively detailed illustrations, this is in many ways a perfect introduction to farming life (although with the caveat that there is quite a bit of rather dense narrative featured and thus, Alice and Martin Provensen's The Year at Maple Hill Farm might well be a bit tedious and possibly distracting for toddlers or even for older children with short attention spans). And personally, I was more than prepared to give The Year at Maple Hill Farms four stars, but the equestrian fox-hunt scenes really did and continue to majorly bother and annoy me, especially since there are no supplemental explanations provided, and it thus actually does seem as though the Provensens actively support fox hunts (and regard them as an acceptable sport), something that is totally and utterly anathema to me in every way. Still much recommended is The Year at Maple Hill Farm, although with the in my opinion necessary warning and caveat that (as mentioned) autumn fox hunts are indeed presented and described and that this could more than likely be an issue for sensitive children (or vegetarian/vegan families) and really also is something that should and must be discussed. For in my opinion, traditional equestrian fox hunts are the killing of an animal simply for sport and enjoyment, for vain glory, and nothing else, as foxes are not even considered to be a potential food item (and fashionable stolas and fur coats do NOT justify traditional fox hunts on horseback in any way, and in fact, they just increase my level of disgust). Now I do well realise that in many countries, traditional equestrian fox-hunts are now held without foxes, without any animals actually being hounded and hunted (and I do know that this is the case in most continental European nations). However, in The Year at Maple Hill Farm, the "hunt" is depicted and described on the same page as a fox is illustrated, which makes me rather or at the very least more than somewhat suspect that the Provensens are featuring a hunt where an actual fox still is the intended prey (and unfortunately, there is also no authorial, no supplemental information provided that the latter might not be the case).

[Laura (Book Scrounger) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lovely companion book to Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm. Either of them can be read independently, but I think it's nice to know about the animals on an individual basis first.

This book is different from "Our Animal Friends" in the sense that it has a broader scope, and takes a step back from the more intimate look at the animals. In this one, we don't learn animals' names, and they are generally spoken of collectively ("the sheep," "the chickens," etc.) rather than individually.

Instead, we get to see the larger process of farm life, and how things change over the course of a year. However, the same delightful, matter-of-fact tone is still there, and the illustrations are just as good and include more of the farm.

We learn about how there is not as much going on in the winter (though still, "on a farm something is happening every minute"), but once spring comes, there are babies born, eggs laid, and gardens to tend. The book focuses more on animal life than on gardening, but we still see that it is happening.

I enjoyed the couple pages in the "September" section that talk about the animals having to take their medicine, because that actually does show you a bit more about the different personalities and quirks of different animals (so much so that I when I looked back as an adult, I mis-remembered and thought that section was part of "Our Animal Friends.")

By the time we reach the end of the book, things are winding down again. The animals are in the barn, there is plenty of hay, and it is time to sleep more and rest from the busyness of the rest of the year. It's such a poignant ending, to me. There is a sense of closure and peace, but also a clear picture of the continuing life cycles that are experienced so closely in farm life.

[What April's Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love this book! We've read it almost every year, multiple times each year, since we received it in our Kindergarten curriculum package 9 years ago! It's fun, well-written, and the illustrations are beautiful!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, simple book that I enjoyed reading with our kids during morning time. It covers both months of the year and seasons, from the perspective of a farm and what goes on there. Our seasons don’t exactly align with those in the book but we still enjoyed it.

[Tessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Need to buy this. It's such a cute readaloud.

[Erica-Nate Gosser-Marrero · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautifully written book.
It was a great read aloud for bedtime. The author’s language and description was beautiful. I liked the choice of the adverbs selected and the colorful visualization that the author used. What a delight to read! ☺️

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too advanced for toddler storytime.

Each page goes extensively through each month

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I have read this book 100 times to my six year old at this point in his life. He never gets tired of it. I think it may quicken some latent genetic agricultural revolution memories in him.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book, the boys really enjoyed it.

[Krista · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very detailed look at farm life through out the seasons. Very educational and accurate!

[CLM · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/202...

A lovely picture book about the seasons on a farm.

[Aneesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

After she learned I want to read this, 6yo refused to. But I liked it!

[Mandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great introduction to learning about months, farm life, & farm animals while looking at nicely detailed pictures 💜

[SamZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this book that tells about the different animal and farm activities during each month of the year. I love how appropriate this story is for little kids who want to learn more about farm animals and farm life. There is plenty of information (what do animals eat, what do they do to keep warm in winter, what if they are sick, etc) and less pleasant aspects of farm life are glossed over or completely ignored (some animals are sold at the end of the year, but it is not mentioned to where or for what purpose they are sold; also, all sick animals get medicine and come out okay). Also, the format of this book, being broken up into individual months, is a fun twist on presenting quite a lot of useful information.

[Emma Filbrun · Rating 5 out of 5]

I end up not reading picture books to my little boys very much. When the oldest children were young, I read a lot of picture books to them, but gradually, as they grew older, my read-aloud selections followed their level and the little ones don’t get the same type of stories as the older ones. For that reason, I’ve scheduled a few picture books into our read-aloud time for the younger ones so that they get some!

Read my full review https://ignitelit.com/the-year-at-map...

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engaging text explains what happens to the animals month by month on the farm.

[Tim Vandenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This idyllic, hyper-observational & highly informative text combines with cozy-comforting child-friendly art to create a picture book worthy of a CCSS Appendix B Read Aloud title for the K-1 grade band. Recommended, especially for those unfamiliar with farm life. I, for one, wish I could have experienced the Provensen's farm life, even for just one day. As a non-farm boy myself (having grown up near Los Angeles), I certainly learned a lot myself from this beautiful & delightful book.

[Hans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another holiday gift book...paired this with the recent release that highlights their cat Max. Our Animal Friends is still my favorite in this series, but there are some sneaky treats in this book too like the line about cats shedding their hair on clothes and furniture, so they don't need to be sheared or shaved in the summer.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this from Amazon because I loved these books as a kid (Gen Xer). Last night, I read it to my first grader. This afternoon, she read it to me. Not as amusing for the parents as "Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm", but still a good glimpse into life on a farm for city slickers like us.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goes through the months of the year and shows what's happening on a farm. The illustrations look like they came from the 1970's, and the story wasn't super compelling to me, but I think my son enjoyed looking at the various animals and what they were doing.

[Susan Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A family favorite, this book was poured over by all three children, read many times, and made their poor mother want to run away (with her entire family in tow) and live in a farm in Vermont and many years later, it still does.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book full of the kinds of things that young children love to notice.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

one year on a farm and what happens month by month to the animals and the work on the farm. Elementary for concept and length.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the finest picture books ever. Nothing to dislike, everything to love.

[Jaimie Stepro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! Enjoyable drawings and a written fro a child to absorb while still being fairly accurate to the characters usually found around a farm. One of my kids favs.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

AR 3.7

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations. Each page has tons of details pertinent to that month and season to scan and stop and ponder on.

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty illustrations and simple, but not babyish, text.

[Deidra Chamberlain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lyrical and beautiful