The Little Scarecrow Boy: A Treasured Story About Father and Son, Family Lessons, and Halloween

by Margaret Wise Brown, David Díaz (Illustrator)

The celebrated author of Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny joins forces with the Caldecott Medalist of Smoky Night to tell this tender story about loving and enduring family relationships. With words by the renowned Margaret Wise Brown and illustrations by David Diaz, this treasured picture book tells the tale of a little scarecrow boy and the lessons he learns from his scarecrow father about the world — until he decides to test his knowledge and himself. This tender and funny story celebrates the tradition of passing knowledge from one generation to the next, and the exuberance of reaching one’s potential. Especially perfect for sharing during the Halloween season. “The scarecrow boy will enchant young readers. He may be made of straw, but he is all heart—and so is this picture book.” — Publishers Weekly “A sunny coming-of-age story.” — School Library Journal

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Storytime, Halloween, Family, Humor

40 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1998

About the author

Margaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of books and stories during her life, but she is best known for Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. Even though she died nearly 70 years ago, her books still sell very well.

Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading.

She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them.

She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper.

Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.

Reviews

[Damien Cowger · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fine. Lovely illustrations. Brown somehow seems to write the word "scarecrow" more than L. Frank Baum.

[✨Arline✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

That was strange. The wording is difficult to read aloud, and the illustrations gave me the heebie-jeebies.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teaches ordinal numbers first through sixth.

About growing up, patiently learning, and then being able to do the work you've trained for.

[Tym · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute but nothing special

[Skylar Burris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story has wonderful cadence and makes good use of repettition. I give it four stars because you don't often find children's stories these days that are well written, somewhat poetic, and pleasant to read aloud and re-read countless times. However, I don't particularly care for the illustrations, and I don't like that the scarecrow boy sneaks out of home while his parents are sleep, does what his father had forbidden him to do, and receives praise rather than discipline. I liked the ambiguity--we don't really know whether he scares the final crow or his father does. I suppose I shouldn't be so harsh; it's a tale, perhaps, of a fatherly love brimming into instant forgiveness and pride in a young boy's desire to be like daddy, even if he isn't quite ready. Yes, I like that interpretation. I'm sure I'll be reading this again many times. At least until my daughter sneaks out at night to try to do something I told her not to do.

[John]

This story is not exactly the greatest childrens book, however, the moral the story carries is a good one. When a scarecrow boy is refused the responsibility he wants, he defies his father only to learn a great lesson. The illustrations are done well, while the colors represent a pleasant Fall season. The warm Fall colors can also be related to the warm relationship between the scarecrow family members as well.

[Bookbag_Betty · Rating 2 out of 5]

-If At First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again!
-Practice- Perseverance -Patience.

TRAVELED TO // a cornfield
MET ALONG THE WAY // the little scarecrow boy - a scarecrow dad - a scarecrow mom

[Rebecca Leedham · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Little Scarecrow is a book about a little boy scarecrow that wants to take on his life out in the field. His father tells him every day that he is not scary enough to take on the job. Once the little scarecrow thought he knew enough about being a scarecrow, he ran away to be on his own in the field. After being attacked by a group of crows, he brought out his scariest face to watch the scarecrows fly away only to turn around and find his father scarecrow. I would use this book in my classroom for the purpose of a read aloud. As the fall season approaches, I can also read it along with the season. Students can take the lesson of perseverance away from this story and it could lead to free write on never giving up. The illustrations in this book also bring it together to be full of life, enhancing the positive experience of reading this book.

[Juushika · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know that there could be a version of a walking, talking scarecrow making frightful faces which isn't a little creepy and, indeed, this is pretty creepy. Creepy-cute, or just unsettling? I didn't like it (especially the straw-stuffing functioning as teeth no thanks), but it's vibrant, and certainly not boring, and copying the faces would probably be fun for a kid.

The ending (the protagonist isn't censured for sneaking out to use his fierce faces in the field) intrigues me. It should be refreshing, but there's commentary here about the scarecrow child being raised into the family business, taking the initiative to prove his usefulness, and therefore earning his place while still young which ... is probably bigger than my quick review of a picture book allows, but feels gently dated, a product of MWB's era and a relic by the time this was published in 1998.

[Hannah Gordon]

The Little Scarecrow Boy is a story about a little scarecrow boy who learns for his dad how to scare crows. His dad won’t let him go in the field to scare crows by himself for the longest time. Finally the scarecrow boy runs away to try to scare the crows himself. Does he end up scaring the crows successfully without being harmed?
Review: I was initially drawn to this book because it looked familiar to me. I thought the illustrations were good and it was a sweet story.
This would be a good book to read to a classroom during the Fall or Halloween time.

[Kendra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never heard of this book but thought that it looked so cute. Cassie loved this book so much that it was one that she had to keep until we had to return them back to the library. It's such a fun read with gorgeous illustrations. The text is so easy to read aloud that I didn't have any stumbling as I read it. The pictures kept Cassie and her friends attention when I read it. They are colorful and really show of the story to the best of it's ability. I highly recommend reading this story for the fall season. You won't want to miss this amazing story.

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young children who are anxious to be big enough and old enough to do the things that the grownups do will definitely be able to relate to this beautiful picture book. Margaret Wise Brown wrote the story many years ago, and David Diaz has created awesome, vibrant paintings to really show what happens when the little scarecrow boy goes out on his own early one morning to scare away the crows by himself. His father has worked hard to teach him the six scary faces, but now he's put to the test.

[Kayla · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay one more- this book is about a young scarecrow who wants to be big and prove that he is a good scarecrow. One day he sneaks out early in the morning to scarecrows, using the six scary faces his dad taught him. Between the contortions he was doing with his face and the straw beneath his eyelids and nose and his straw teeth, I couldn’t handle the illustrations. They were nothing like the smiling scarecrow on the cover. 🤢

[Hannah Ford · Rating 3 out of 5]

A just fine book. The illustrations are at once lovely and somewhat unsettling (I'm amazed my toddler likes it since button faces on a doll are a big "NO"). I don't entirely love that the little scarecrow boy sneaks out to prove himself with nary a consequence--although, perhaps he wouldn't have felt he needed to if the daddy scarecrow had let him come with him one day! It is pleasant enough to read, though, and my toddler has enjoyed it.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Little Scarecrow Boy thinks he is ready to test his skills of showing his six scary faces to the crows in the corn field, although his father says he's not fierce enough. The Little Scarecrow Boy sneaks out early one morning to scare crows, and discovers that his father's words of wisdom rang true.

[Alicia Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not our favorite Margaret Wise Brown book. Nice pictures, but my kids were not interested in this scarecrow family. The repetitive language that younger children seem so attracted to seemed to fall short. I'm also not a fan of the example of a little kid sneaking off alone in the wee small hours of the day to prove himself. We won't check this one out again.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little kids and little scarecrows just want to grow up to be like their parents. And sometimes those little kids want to grow up just a little too fast. This book tells of the little scarecrow's adventures chasing away the crows. A cute story but not one of my favorite Margaret Wise Brown tellings.

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess one could say this was the lesson of don't try and grow up too quickly, a nice little read and well illustrated, it also could be titled if you don't want someone to do something communicate more effectively why you don't want that to happen.
Everything works out in this world b ut it doesn't always in real life.
A mixed message in some respects.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the story is clever, the sharing of tradition through generations, the illustrations of this tale are...scary!
I recognize that David Diaz is a Caldecott Medal recipient, but these fierce scarecrow faces are too fierce for little kiddos.

[Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The little scarecrow boy went to the field to scare crows away. His father kept telling him no, but he went anyway. He made faces, but they still kept coming. On the last face, the birds went flying! The father was behind him, and he was proud of him!"

[Luisa Knight · Rating 2 out of 5]

Here's a story about a little scarecrow boy that slips out of the house to try his hand at scaring crows. It's definitely a unique story-line.

Ages: 2 - 5

#fall #autumn

[Jeremy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was the father behind his son during the sixth face?

[Malory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite Fall story. The plot didn't really grip me.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scarecrow wants his little scarecrow boy to be a good scarecrow — but warns him that he is not yet fierce enough. So one morning, little scarecrow heads to the cornfield alone to prove himself.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

AR 3.5

[Antonia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pains me to rate a Margaret Wise Brown book so low, but the story did not resonate and we strongly disliked the illustrations.

[Keshia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fall read for any classroom. My students enjoyed this story!

[Nadina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute story. The illustrations are hit or miss. I think it wpuld be fun to have kids pull faces as you are reading.

[Vickie McEntire · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet fairy-tale like story about a boy learning how to be scary with exceptional illustrations.

[Cecile · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.7