Farmer Ham

by Alec Sillifant, Mike Spoor (Illustrator)

The crows in Farmer Hams field are very happy. All day long they sit and eat his corn and no matter how often he shouts and waves his arms, they wont go away. Silly old Farmer Ham. Or is he so silly, after all?

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2004

Reviews

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an imaginative, if slightly disturbing children's book in the great tradition of English macabre humor, as you have to wonder if Farmer Ham has any pigs in his barn. Perhaps he's second or third generation from Animal Farm, where (if you remember the last sentence) you couldn't tell the pigs and the people apart.

The best characters are the crows, the anti-heroes. They love puns as much as they love corn and insulting Farmer Ham. Mike Spoor does a marvelous job of portraying this murder of crows.

I'd love to see the sequel, when the crows inevitably come back after they've become habituated. Farmer Ham would need to step up his game by introducing lasers to his cornfield. (Just Google "laser scarecrows" to find out more.)

[Misbah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Farmer Ham is having a problem with the crows eating all his crops. The crows make fun of him and don't respect him or fear him. So Farmer Ham goes down to pond and starts fishing. The crows crack jokes and make fun of him as he pulls out different items of clothes. In the end he has the last laugh, because he uses those clothes to make a scarecrow and scares away all the mean crows.

I liked the unique story and the illustrations were decent.

[Kenneth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A patient farmer works hard to scare of crows. Wonderful story to teach that hard work and patience you can accomplish much. Even if other mock you.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book because it's about crows and we see crows everywhere (almost). As toddlers, the kids learn to recognize the familiar "caw" and enjoy talking back to the crows. The crows in this book are also noisy. And, here we learn about another point of view. We like crows, but we can see why the farmer doesn't.

Two interesting questions the kids have asked about the story:
• Are the crows bullies?
• Why does the farmer have clothes in the pond?
We pondered (pun intended) the answers together.

[Katie Boisen · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Farmer Ham' written by Alec Sillifant and illustrated by Mike Spoor is a story for anyone with a sense of humor. In this silly tale, Farmer Ham is tired of being tormented and bullied by the mischievous crows that live in his trees. For all the crows know, Farmer Ham is a dumb farmer that they can make fun of forever! But not so fast, Farmer Ham may not be as dumb as they think....

[CFAITC]

With the noisy crows in his corn field growing in number, what can a farmer do? Farmer Ham solves this agriculture problem with some creativity.

[Bottom Shelf Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://bottomshelfbooks.blogspot.com/...