This Farm Is a Mess

by Leslie McGuire

Unable to stand the mess on Farmer Wood's farm any longer, the animals decide to do something about it.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Aron .Peach · Rating 5 out of 5]

After a first read, you'd think 'How silly, animals doing chores on a farm?' However, looking at the bigger picture, I believe the book does well to cling to just a few classic values of community and family. Doing everything for everyone by yourself can be too much sometimes, as shown by Farmer Wood and his animal's high anxiety in the first half of the book. However, when everyone started to pitch in, even the animals, the messy work of maintaining the farm became much easier. I found it especially humorous when the farmer tells the animals about the city at the end, bringing the author's point up that she much prefers country living to that of the city. Overall, this was a great book with great vocabulary for young ones to learn and even better values to teach.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

An older book that is one of my favorite books from when I was younger. Although it is one of those older generation books that doesn't seem to get generally passed down even though it is a classic it will be a true favorite for those children who enjoy farms and/or farm animals as that is where the plot of this particular story is. For a quick summary just think of this as "Animal Farm" in reverse where instead of the animals taking over the farm, they help a single and overworked farmer instead on taking care of his farm.

Easy to read and understand this book is clearly a good book for young readers while giving the reader a clear idea on how much work actually goes into running a farm. With a familiar cast of characters and delightfully intriguing pictures most readers will feel right at home without needing a full background as to how the farmer got himself in quite the dilemma that he is in.

If I were to ever make a Classic list of books for children this will be most definitely on it for also teaching the reader about working together and sharing the talents that you have so each person can get a head. Again a must-read for elementary children!

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Farmer Wood can't keep up with the mess at the farm. The animals need a break from it all! They send Farmer Wood off to go on a vacation, and meanwhile they get to work cleaning and repairing the farm. However, when they get to planting the fields, they come across a problem; none of them know how to read! What will happen now?

[Jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A timeless theme for my household. :) This book shows the importance of cooperation and helping one another.

[Sam Luschen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an adorable book. I felt like this was my life when reading this to my kid.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite book when I was a child. I have distinct memories of my mom coming up to my room because I was hysterically laughing at the story, and I had probably read it a dozen times previously.
We are going through my old books now as I choose which ones to go onto the shelves of the children I hope to someday raise and cannot find this book, but once I do, I hope they get as much enjoyment out of it as I did.

[Kristin Rosenberg]

A farmer allows his farm to become such a mess that the animals essentially kick him out and clean up. When they realize that they can't plant crops themselves because they don't know how, they convince the farmer to come back to the farm. While the moral is that cooperation and cleanliness are good, the book leaves me feeling unenthusiastic. Why didn't the farmer have to clean up his own mess? I don't know who I would recommend this to...

[Carla Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not super crazy about this book. It's ok it's just bugs me that farmer, who doesn't take good care of the buildings or the animals, keeps getting frustrated with the mess and looks for a place to take a nap. And then he leaves altogether and it's the animals that have to do 90% of the cleaning and repairs. My son likes if because of all the animals and that is the only reason we read it.

[Kayli · Rating 3 out of 5]

To this day I sometimes say "This farm is a mess!" and my kids don't know what I'm talking about. :)