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Serious Farm
Farmer Fred never smiled much. “Farmin’ is serious business,” he’d say. “Nothin’ funny about corn.” And so life on his farm was pretty serious. None of the animals laughed or even smiled. But everyone has to laugh sometimes, including Farmer Fed. The animals try everything to get him to dancing by the light of the moon in Farmer Fred’s clothes, singing chickens, sheep disguised in sunglasses and mustaches. Nothing works and finally the animals decide to leave Serious Farm in search of a more cheerful place to chuckle and graze. Will the animals find a livelier home, and will Farmer Fred ever lighten up?
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
4 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
August 21, 2014
Solid example of how institutional problems often arise from upper management's issues. Farmer Fred's personal shortcomings spiral out of control, creating a company-wide morale problem. Edna, attempting to act as shop steward, fails to reach an agreement with management and their only remaining option is a walk-off.
December 11, 2020
They're tired of being so serious all the time, so these farm animals try their darndest to get Farmer Fred to crack a smile.
You will probably smile at their antics. If not, Farmer Fred has some stalls you can shovel out.
You will probably smile at their antics. If not, Farmer Fred has some stalls you can shovel out.
June 18, 2021
Everyone deserves to read the wit in this book.
June 16, 2015
Longer readaloud about animals at the farm who are tired of being serious and want to make Farmer Fred laugh. This can be interactive-- kids are not allowed to smile while reading the book. Fun for a farm story time or just a one read. K-2.
September 17, 2016
Heh, this was one the best kids books we've read in a while. Genuinely funny for children and grown-folks.
January 24, 2012
Farmer Fred says things like, "There is nothing funny about corn. There is no humor in tomatoes." and "I never laugh at Bell Peppers". Farmer fred is always serious, doesn't laugh or smile, and his animals followed his example. One day Edna the cow decides to get Farmer fred to laugh. Edna tries to get everyone to laugh by pretending to be a rooster one morning. The animals all wear Farmer Brown's clothes, and many other silly incidents to try to get Farmer fred to laugh. When none of these succeed, The animals decide to run away - or walk away. When Farmer Fred wakes up one morning to find all his animals gone, he feels sad and has to go looking for his friends. When he finally finds them, they are walking through the woods. He first tells the animals that he takes care of them and he also needs them. He then says that they are likely to be eaten by lions in a day or two. While the animals think about whether to return to the farm, Farmer Fred chuckles thinking about "cows and chickens runnin' wild in the woods". This display of humor, plus "the lion issue", encourage the animals to hop into the truck and go back home with Farmer Fred.
September 27, 2017
Farmer Fred is very serious. After all, farming is very serious business! Because he was serious, all of his animals were serious, too. One day, they decided to make Farmer Fred laugh. They tried everything they could think of, but nothing worked. Eventually, they couldn't take it any more. They wanted to laugh! They decided to run away--well, walk away. When Farmer Fred noticed they were gone, he became very sad. He got in his truck and started looking for them. When he heard laughing animals in the woods, he stopped. When he and the animals talked, Farmer Fred made sure the animals knew that just because he was serious, it didn't mean they had to be as well. They were a family and needed to work things out instead of just leaving. Plus, the idea of farm animals running wild in the woods made him chuckle. The animals had succeeded! They decided to go back to the farm and be happy rather than risk being eaten by lions in the woods.
Good for preschool storytimes.
Good for preschool storytimes.
September 14, 2012
This book was published in 2003 and a friend whose primary class is studying food this year has an amazing collection of books connected to food: gardening, farms, farmers, cooking, chefs, etc. She loaned me a recent discovery today. It has a droll sense of humor, perhaps because the animals who live on the farm are working hard to try to get their farmer/friend to be a little bit funnier. He is quite serious, and we read that he says: "Broccoli's no fun" and "I never laugh at bell peppers." They are fed up! They try different things to get the farmer to laugh, and giving up, they walk off the farm into the woods. What happens next is a surprise, because the book is not as predictable as it seems. The illustrations are simple and hilarious, especially when the animals are trying to get a laugh out of the farmer.
March 20, 2012
My second grade students find the animals hilarious...and they are quite funny. The book does raise a good point...do we take our lives/our jobs too seriously? It's important to work hard, to do our jobs correctly, but does that have to be at the expense of all joy and fun? Thank goodness Farmer Fred and the animals learn that it is better to be with friends (even if they are a bit serious) than to be alone.
December 10, 2015
3.25 stars I feel like I have read this story somewhere before...the premise feel very similar! Anyway, it got me a chuckle.. when the farm animals were doing silly things. When the pigs start barking the farmers said "That's more weird than funny" That made me snicker a bit! I also like that the when he finds the animal after they have ran away, that "Running away doesn't solve anything" Not in love with this book, but it was fun!!
May 15, 2009
One of my kids' favorites. Farmer Fred has no apparent sense of humor, as after all, "farming is serious business". But the animals long to find a way to make him crack a smile. Kids will come around a lot faster than Farmer Fred does to the animals' silly hijinks - but for the farmer it takes a little personal crisis to learn that humor is where you find it, even on the farm.
June 25, 2013
This is a fun read aloud, but personally, I like Egan's easy reader series about Dodsworth in New York better--I think Egan's sense of humor is more finely honed in those books than in this.
November 2, 2014
A pleasant story, but mostly led by the illustrations, which really sold the animals-are-followers-of-the-farmer theme. I'm not sure I agree with the representation of seriousness, it felt more disinterested. I would prefer to have seen some of the serious side of farming.
February 23, 2016
Farmer Fred takes his work very seriously and so do his animals, until they decide they need to make the farm more fun and set out to find a way to make Farmer Fred laugh.
Hilarious and great fun for preschool story time.
Hilarious and great fun for preschool story time.
February 23, 2008
A hilarious book about a very serious farmer and his animals, who launch an ambitious plan to cheer him up. The illustrations crack me up every time.
June 18, 2009
Really liked this one
June 7, 2011
Apparently there are people in the world who don't giggle all the time. Most peculiar.
September 16, 2011
Skylar (age 5) liked this one more than I did. I found it a bit boring.
April 30, 2012
Great illustrations and story about a serious farmer and his animals.
May 16, 2012
Hilarious. The serious farmer is dead ringer for Ron Swanson.
December 7, 2012
The animals tries to make the farmer laugh. J.M.
July 5, 2017
Farmer Fred never laughs, so the animals try to make him laugh. When they can't, they run off, but Fred goes after them.
September 19, 2013
Farming is serious business
November 6, 2013
My 6 year old LOVES this book - I like to think it's my funny voices for Farmer Fred and Edna that enamor him. Lovely book and message.
October 9, 2014
This book is absolutely hilarious! It's a story about a grumpy farmer who doesn't let the animals have fun or make jokes. They run away and he realizes that he cares about them greatly.
March 18, 2015
Read with a 2nd grade class; completely hilarious.
July 20, 2015
A joyful story about loving the serious folks in our life.
October 28, 2017
Just read this at work because Drew read it and past it over to me. Pretty cute!
March 19, 2018
Cute store
Would have given it five stars but the words being typed and not always matching pictures made it confusing.
I am going to use with my class.
Would have given it five stars but the words being typed and not always matching pictures made it confusing.
I am going to use with my class.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews