Squeal and Squawk: Barnyard Talk

by Susan Pearson, David Slonim (Illustrator)

Cows give us milk, for ice cream and cheese. But my dog gives me kisses, and tail wags…and fleas. Welcome to the barnyard! Eighteen rollicking poems explore the lives of farm animals. From a limerick about a rooster in love with a duck to an ode to the lazy life of a cow, these comically illustrated rhymes take a humorous look at our squealing and squawking animal friends.

Genres: Picture Books, Poetry

34 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2004

Reviews

[Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it. It is soooooooo cute

[Meghan Collins]

I liked this book, but it was not one of the best ones I've read. The poetry in this book would probably be for much younger children, possibly ones who are just beginning to learn about rhyming words. Most of the poems are rhyming poems with simple words such as 'stair, there, plane, drain, poof and roof. I was disappointed that the poems did not more into depth, but the more I think about it, the more I think that when you're first introducing poetry, it is nice to keep if simple.

The illustrations were very good despite the detail of the poems. A lot of the illustrations take up most of the two pages provided. Big, detailed illustrations help students not only get involved in the story, but it also helps them understand what is going on.

The poems that drew me in the most were the ones a little bit funny. Like I mentioned, these poems had no depth at all, which is why I think the main purpose was to introduce children to rhyming words.

Unfortunately, I did not have a powerful connection with the text in this book.

I would recommend this book to probably preschool or early kindergarten teachers because of the content and literacy concepts used, but I would not recommend this book to teachers in grades 2-5.

In the younger classrooms, I would mainly use this book to teach rhyming words, and possibly rhyming words that are not spelled the same way. Along with this, we could use this book to learn about onsets, prefixes and suffixes.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I review several children's books a month, and I've read some very good ones, but it's been a while since I smiled as much as I did while reading Squeal and Squawk. The rhyming poems and humorous color illustrations are fun for both parents and their kids as they learn the truth about farm animals:

* How noisy the barnyard animals can be. Too noisy, actually.
* Pigs really did fly at one time.
* A goose is better than a guard dog.
* A foolish rooster crows once too often.
* Chickens will eat anything. Anything.
* Why interspecies love is ultimately doomed.
* Where winter snow really comes from and why it's so soft.

Plus other startling revelations and fun facts about the animals we love... to eat. Author Susan Pearson and illustrator David Slonim have done a marvelous job with the book. It's funny, and it's interesting enough to hold kids' attention while they peruse the illustrations that complement the text perfectly. One of the most entertaining books I've seen for preschoolers through early grade school.

[Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pearson, S. (2004). Squeal and Squawk (D. Slonim, Illus.). New York, NY:
Marshall Cavendish.

Category: Picture Book Soak

Where found: Virginia Beach Central Library

This book caught my eye just because of the funky illustrations on the cover of farm animals. I did not know it at the time when I picked it up that it was also a book of poetry. This book is a collection of poems about farm animals and farm life all written by the same author, Susan Pearson. The illustrations were okay, but nothing to brag about. I felt they were lackluster in style, and even though the poems were lighthearted, I don’t think it’s a book I would jump at to teach or use in my classroom. I would definitely provide it to my students to read as a poetry support book during a poetry unit, but would not have it as part of my curriculum.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some were pretty good, some were OK.

Standouts for possibly future activities: Stomach Math, When Pigs Could Fly, A Chicken Will Eat Most Anything


"Recite Your Chickens" could be a very fun, useful thing, except that even after reading it three times aloud, I couldn't find the rhythm. Without it, it's just a list. It's unfortunate that you can't listen to any of these on the author website because chicken breeds is the short of thing that be fantastic to memorize in song / poem.

[JaNeal · Rating 2 out of 5]

I might have given this higher ratings, but I'm pretty particular about meter and a few of the poems were pretty ordinary. I'm saving this book mostly for research reasons. I'm not saying it's not worth the time of reading, it's just not great.

[Fisal Ansari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Age:
Grades 5-9

Genre:
Poetry

Diversity
Animals.

Illustrations:
drawings.

Personal response:
Poems from animals perspective.

Curricular or programming connections:
Poetry lessons

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poems that teach all about animals and critters you would find in a barn.
Very clever.

Grades: K-4
Topic: poetry, anmials, living things, farm life

[Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of poems.

[Stavros]

Yes
I do want to read this book