Baaa

by David Macaulay

After the last person has gone from the earth, sheep take over the world, make the same mistakes as humans, and eventually disappear as well.

Genres: Picture Books, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Childrens, Dystopia, Humor, Fantasy

67 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

David Macaulay, born in 1946, was eleven when his parents moved from England to Bloomfield, New Jersey. He found himself having to adjust from an idyllic English childhood to life in a fast paced American city. During this time he began to draw seriously, and after graduating from high school he enrolled in the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). After spending his fifth year at RISD in Rome on the European Honors Program, he received a bachelor’s degree in architecture and vowed never to practice. After working as an interior designer, a junior high school teacher, and a teacher at RISD, Macaulay began to experiment with creating books. He published his first book, Cathedral, in 1973. Following in this tradition, Macaulay created other books—including City, Castle, Pyramid, Mill, Underground, Unbuilding, and Mosque—that have provided the explanations of the how and the why in a way that is both accessible and entertaining. From the pyramids of Egypt to the skyscrapers of New York City, the human race’s great architectural and engineering accomplishments have been demystified through Macaulay's elaborate show-and-tells. Five of these titles have been made into popular PBS television programs.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

where humans have gone extinct, sheep begin to take our places.

Sadly, for them, they adopt all our nasty habits - even the really DIRTY stuff like banking and politics!

(How this is all accomplished without opposable thumbs is anyone's guess . . .)

As you might imagine, bad stuff happens.


Soylent Green IS NOT PEOPLE!

A very dark and disturbingly dystopian tale for adults or very unusual children.

[Alyse Liebovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a hard time believing that this picture book is for children.
Although it was published in 1985, page 40 may sound eerily familiar to today's "leader(s)":
"The leaders presented charts and graphs that proved there was no hunger."
Did Macaulay predict America would be heading towards a fascist regime in 2017? Spooky!

[Alesia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baaaaaaaaa, bwahahaaaaaah!!!

[Zabdi Gutierrez · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s like Wall-E the movie but with sheep

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met Macaulay and found him sweet and gentle. This book shows an entirely different side!! My daughter found this in the picture book section of our library and we brought it home...I began to read it to her, and she could NOT understand why I was laughing.

Picture book or not, this is NOT a children's book. I event talked to the librarians about perhaps reshelving it. Think "Soylent Green" in picture books! Baaaa is a cautionary tale, a dystopia starring sheep. Civilization seems to be going swimmingly for all the sheep until more and more power and resources begin funnelling into the hands of fewer and fewer sheep. Food becomes schare and there are riots. The rebellion is quelled, peace is restored, and a new food source is introduced: Baaa.

I won't give away the chilling conclusion, but this one is a book I would love to teach as a companionpiece to 1984, or Brave New World.

Macaulay, that gentle soul, has created one of the most disturbing pieces I've read...never finished reading it to Laurie...we went back to Cat in the Hat!

[Annie Combest-friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This dystopian novel looks at sheep living human lives. It follows the history of humans from the caves to the industrial age except this occurs with sheep after all humans have died off. It does a great job illustrating the impact that humans have had on themselves and their environment while also showing the brutality and gruesome nature of industry. Though this book is easy to read, I would reserve it for an older audience because the ideas are mature and gruesome. A discussion could be derived from reading this book as a class. I would put this in the library also because it might get people into reading dystopian novels and thinking about the human effect on the world. This might get students into becoming advocates for some cause.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this should be required reading for anybody determined to use the non-word, "Sheeple."



We always had a copy of David Macaulay's "The Way Things Work" in my house growing up. I'd flip through the pages, but I never really read it. Now I wish I had. It's a five-star book for sure.

Baaa was weird, and out there, and not at all like The Way Things Work.

I've never seen (or really even heard of) Soylent Green, but I checked out the trailer after hearing it compared to this book so much.

Honestly, though, it looks less and less like these stories will turn into our dystopian future. The UN keeps improving it's predictions. And helping/saving the lives of poor kids will decrease the world's population, rather than increase it.

(Although, if I hadn't already shared a picture from the book, I would share page 40 now which says, "The leaders presented charts and graphs that proved there was no hunger."

I liked this book, but forgive me for not giving it the love everybody else lavishes upon it. The pictures were amazing. The story was great. But the metaphor seems less believable nowadays. (Which isn't the case for many other dystopian stories, imo.)

[Caitlyn O'Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book very interesting, although it's kind of disgusting. If you're an oblivious person (like my sister : )) you might miss the innuendos!
It's basically about this group of sheep that moved into an abandoned town after all the humans died off, because the pastures were all dried up (I think). In one of the houses, a young sheep accidentally turned on a television, and, by watching movies & TV shows, the sheep learned to speak. They were soon basically humans, except, of course, they were sheep. After a while, the food was all gone from the supermarkets, and sheep were going hungry. After many robberies and riots, the leaders announced a delicious new food called Baaa. Baaa was very popular, but, mysteriously, as the demand for Baaa grew, the population declined. Baaa trucks were a common sight, driving around the neighborhoods with a sign that said "Free Rides." Finally, there were only two sheep left. And one day, they met for dinner.

[fye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found out this book through a children's literature introduction book. It ends with chilling short passage. Baaa is a satire in a bleak tone from the beginning, as it may could be noticed through the cover. With monochrome images , Baaa created a grim tale about consumerism and alienation of creatures in civilisation.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several reviewers have commented that this picture book is more of an adult book than a children's book. I agree it is definitely not for the elementary age students. Teens may understand the implications of the story, but most adults will definitely understand the author's intentions. Black and white illustrations follow and extend the story on each page.

[Cary Stough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminds me of the best Harlan Ellison. A simple, yet willfully opaque, allegory in the Twilight Zone tradition. In the genre of animals acting out human apocalypse-dramas after humans have been obliterated by a fatal theater of their own.

[Samuel Witmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the strangest books I’ve ever read. However, it is one of my favorite picture books. I’m a big fan of dystopias, so I loved reading this wonderfully strange little story about sheep inheriting the earth from humans before eating each other into extinction.

[Brandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

DANGIT, SHEEP!! You had ONE job to do!! AND YOU BLEW IT!! You were supposed to just happily keep grazing on grass in the warm sunshine ALL. DAY. LONG. Instead, you chose to be all “Four legs good, two legs BETTER!” You were supposed to learn FROM humans—not learn TO BE humans!

[Mpho3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Malthus meets Orwell meets Harry Harrison meets Gorey meets Shaun the Sheep ... until there's no one left and no record of when the last one disappeared. Baaa humbug!

[Kendra Lind · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the creepiest children's book and I wish I had never read it.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am definitely going to read this to my future kids. They are definitely not going to like it, but I will not regret having read it to them.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never have the words "Please pass the mint jelly" held such portent.

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! very disturbing!

[Melanie Gaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy, unsettling, and thought-provoking.

[David J. McRae · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book felt like an episode of the Twilight Zone... It was short but enjoyable and thought-provoking...

[Liam Thistlethwaite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming and brilliantly dark.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

absolutely disturbing.

[Candance Doerr-Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark comic look at humans as invasive species and extinction. I’d like to revisit this book after reading Lydia Pyne’s Endlings:Fables for the Anthropocene (on my 2025 reading list)

Used: Goodwill

[LybGyde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story for introducing a dystopian unit to middle school students.

[Toni Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but oh, so depressing!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable dark-satire.

[Jennifer Lavonier · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the course of his career, David Macaulay has employed several different illustration styles. He’s an amazing artist, regardless of the medium and a true genius. Seriously, he won the MacArthur Foundation Award—aka, The Genius Award—in 2006. The art in Baaa is black and white and beautifully done. Macaulay uses light and shade perfectly and creates texture and depth with cross hatching and carefully spaced lines.

Though this is a heavily illustrated book, the story is not for younger children. Because of the bleak subject, I’ve categorized it as a middle reader but I think there are many aspects to be appreciated by older children, teens and adults.

Baaa is a parable about overpopulation, borrowing ideas from George Orwell’s 1984 and Soylent Green, the 1973 film. Instead of people, Baaa is sheep. This satirical picture book is grim, fascinating, humorous and clever.

“There is no record of when the last person disappeared. The only person who could have recorded when the last person disappeared was the last person to disappear.”

Sometime later, sheep begin to wander from their pastures into the now deserted towns. After they’ve eaten all the flowers and grass and potted plants, they move into the houses and grocery stores.

When a television in an abandoned house is accidentally turned on, several sheep sit mesmerized by the glow emanating from the screen. Eventually they learn to operate the machines attached to the TV’s and they’re able to watch movies.


More time passes and the sheep learn to speak and read. Slowly, they learn to be more and more like humans. They inhabit the homes the people left behind, and learn to drive cars. They establish schools, travel and pursue careers; leaders emerge from the pack. Times are prosperous and the population increases.


But before long, the lines at markets begin to grow, traffic moves more slowly and grocery items are in short supply. Items must be rationed, but it’s never done fairly. Hungry sheep turn to crime. More and more sheep are unhappy and riots break out.

Just as things seem to be at their worst, there’s a miraculous end to the food shortage and a brand new product on the shelves!


Everyone is eating it and everyone loves it. Soon there’s a shortage of Baaa and the unrest returns. Armed forces return the peace. Baa returns to the shelves. The cycle repeats and the population declines, until there’s just two sheep left. They meet for lunch.


“There is no record of when the last one disappeared.”

[Kyriakos Sorokkou]

A picture book for older children, teenagers 10-18, and adults. A dystopian story about sheep taking over the place of humans after they [humans] disappeared mysteriously, and slowly slowly the sheep were becoming more human themselves. Things looked fine at the beginning and then. . .
A dystopian, haunting story about issues like overpopulation, cannibalism (baaa), corruption etc. This is the second time I read this story and the ending is always chilly.
"There is no record of when the last person disappeared." p. 7
"But at the last moment, [the fish] turned again and disappeared into the depths of the ocean." p.63

[Inggita · Rating 5 out of 5]

"during times of crisis, the rulers pumped more entertainment into the television channels" - beware... this book looks like a plain, eccentric grey gloomy children story book about a bunch of sheep taking over our world - but it's an illustrated adult book about power struggles. children will find the story pointless and boring - even adults wonder about the ending - although it gives the book a poignant ending.

[Bri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an adorable book with a dark warning for the youth of the earth. It tells of the disapearance of the human race, and follows a herd of sheep as tehy slowly discover and recreate civilized society. The sheep begin making the smae mistakes humans did, and suffer the same fate. The books message is subtle, and greatly supported by the amazing black and white illustrations. It tells of overpopulation, inflation, rations, corrupt leaders, etc. Its like orwell for kids.

I love it.