Your Farm

Your Places

by Jon Klassen

From the incomparable Jon Klassen, one in a trio of companion board books for the youngest of children

This is your sun.
It is coming up for you.

This is your tree.
It can go under the sun.

With a minimal tableau of familiar objects and a gentle rhythm suited for reading aloud, a farm and all its items—a horse and its hay, a truck, a stool, a fence—are assembled, ending with bedtime as the sun goes down. This is a farm for a young child to have whenever they want to go there. One in a trio of board books focusing on safe spaces, comfort, and imagination, Your Farm signals both a departure for Jon Klassen and a story whose peculiar touches of whimsy stamp the book as iconically his.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals

24 pages, Board Book

Published February 4, 2025

About the author

Jon Klassen received the 2010 Canadian Governor General’s Award for his illustrations in Caroline Stutson’s Cat's Night Out. He also created illustrations for the popular series The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place and served as an illustrator on the animated feature film Coraline (2009). I Want My Hat Back is the first book he has both written and illustrated. Originally from Niagara Falls, Canada, he lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Jasmine from How Useful It Is · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read with my first grader. Excellent story and illustrations. Each sentence add a picture. In the end, a whole story made a whole picture. Pretty cool concept.

The story started with the sun coming up so the illustrations shows half of the sun. Then the story introduced the tree. And an illustration of the tree stand under the sun. Then the story introduced a barn and the illustrations placed the barn next to the tree.. and so on. Good book for toddlers!

Thank you Candlewickpress for the opportunity to read and review.

[DaNae · Rating 5 out of 5]

KLASSEN always knows the audience he is writing for. I love how he nails the understanding of preschoolers, who are expanding there world one eyeball at a time.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A board book with simple illustrations and minimal text about a farm. The reader is told that everything on each page belongs to the reader: your sun, your tree, your barn, your horse with some hay, your truck, your stool, and your fence. The soft illustrations and the comforting pacing of each line emphasizes that everything is where it belongs. The only oddity in this book is that all the items have eyes. Some have two eyes like the barn and tree while some have only one like the stool and fence posts. But at night when it is dark, all the eyes are closed except for the moon's.

[Ann Haefele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Board book about putting together a farm with elements such as a barn, a fence, a tractor, a horse, a tree and a stool. Those familiar with this author/illustrator will enjoy seeing his style of eyes on the objects of this farm. It’s a set of board books that also include Your Island and Your Forest. Jon Klassen knows his audience.

[Cail Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

He’s done it again. The second-person perspective is genius.

[Guilherme Semionato · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf9CG...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN8nX...

[Megan Cheang · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m sorry but I just find the eyes on the chair and fence creepy!

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

The thing is, Jon Klassen is very good at what he does.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely minimalist but kind of irresistible. An exercise in mindfulness, world building and visualization. A modern classic, perfect for bedtime at any age. This is my favorite of the trio because it feels cozy, homey. This one has the most color, as well. Feels dynamic and realistic.

[Charlotte Glaze · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the new Board Books from Jon Klassen. His others are "Your Island" and "Your Forest". We checked out Your Island as well, which follows much the same pattern as Your Farm. This is an object naming book, but with Jon Klassen's signature style. All the objects have eyes, which is especially funny on the fence, and at first read I thought the stool was an alien like in "Rock from the Sky".

My son is an early reader, and he was the one who read this book to me. He enjoyed it, and we both giggled over the illustrations.

I think Jon Klassen has created a new series perfect for little readers who like to know the names of objects, but also he has written it in such a way as to create the beginnings of a world that can fuel imagination.

[V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Your Island, Your Forest, and Your Farm are all adorable bedtime board books. The way the narrator addresses the reader and personalizes every item in the story evokes a comforting intimacy where the reader (listener) feels a connection to the setting and sees that it is indeed time to go to sleep. Why everything has eyes, I'm not totally sure, and that's not totally to my personal taste, but it does help show that everyone is sleeping and it is Klassen's beloved to style.

This Klassen trio is endearing and I would absolutely select these for part of a toddler's bedtime routine if I were tucking someone in!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jon Klassen is back with a bedtime story for young children about piecing together a very cute (and slightly sentient) farm. On each page, Klassen urges the reader to add the sun, the fence, the tree, the stool, etc. to the adorable, eyed farm. The simplistic drawings are true to Klassen-form and children will enjoy being spoken to by the narrator and engaged. I don’t think this is necessarily ground-breaking picture book work, but it’s cute and the under-5-set will enjoy reading it before bed. It is gentle, simple, and sweet.

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for this ARC.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Giving each of the titles in this series of board books a read, I continue not to like these titles. II do not like the eyes in every component that goes into making the farm. I didn’t care for the eyes in the stool, or the fence and then there are also eyes in the haystack which are rarely used in modern agriculture today, instead there are square bales and the predominant configuration in hay making is round bales. And round bales vary by weight and size.

[Ellon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars (I liked it)

Board books aren't my speciality (Elementary School Librarian) but decided to read the Your Places series because it's Klassen. All the books in the series were cute. They each start with the sun coming up. Then different aspects of the place are added (in this one, it includes a barn and a horse). Finally, the sun goes down and the reader is invited to close their eyes along with the "characters."

[Stacie · Rating 5 out of 5]

With a gentle rhythm, kids will watch a farm come alive on the pages. First, the sun comes up, then there is a tree. The barn goes next to the tree. The horse and some hay go into the barn. Don’t forget your truck.

As the day ends and the sun goes down, it’s time for the farm to close its eyes and dream of all the farm adventures you’ll have tomorrow. The simple illustrations and minimal words are perfect for little ones. Get all three books in the Your Places set of board books.

[Agamtriptyline · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first Jon Klassen book I read was I Want My Hat Back. Unlike that book, Your Farm is a true children's book. Reading this book felt like playing with a farm toy set from my childhood.

P.S. I think tomorrow I will clean my farm, then sit on a stool under a tree and watch the clouds in the bright sky.

250427DPK

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars
I read a digital copy courtesy of the publisher and Edelweiss.
Klassen's wide eyed illustrations depict many things you might find on a farm and how they fit together. In the end , he leaves it up to the reader to imagine the next day in the farm.

[Hailey Vittrup · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I received this book as a DRC. The unique illustrations and piece by piece concept make this book one to remember. With each page for the first 75% of the book, a new item is added to "your farm." The imagination that this book can inspire is evident.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this whole series. This is a a basic story that is calming and almost melodic in its tone. But Klassen takes this basic story and just makes it magical somehow?

I don't mind reading these over and over again.

[Andrés · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something very satisfying about the element-by-element creation of something, then the setting sun and sleep. I thought the illustrations were charming and didn't really notice the fence and chair eyes. I love the ownership Klassen gives the reader.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a bit of Goodnight Moon for farm kids nicely done by Klassen.

[Heidi Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and simple. Perfect for itty-bitty readers!

[Jade Wolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Simple and an excellent book for my little one who’s learning to read, well, read.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming, fun, and just a little bit creepy when you think about it. Perfect for kids.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute! Typically Jon Klassen illustrations. One by one, he adds different components to the farm. What a wonderful book for babies and toddlers! I loved the eyes on everything.

[Holly Wagner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really cute bedtime or preschool book.

[Bennie Sussman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like I was being watched. It was a little unsettling

[Rich Farrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I left a longer review on Your Island, but this is a neat meditative board book.

[Paulette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one the least of the three, because I was hoping that the stool was going to be an alien, but those expectations were on me.

[Marcie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't get your forest, but this gave me an idea of the series. Wish I had written this before I had to send it back to the library.