Our family loves rock n’ roll. Actually that would be Loves. Capital “L.”
Before our first child was born, we saw “Punk Farm” by Jarrett J. Krososczka on the shelf of the bookstore and knew it would be a hit in our family. Obviously, then, we were most excited to find out there was a second book in the series, “Punk Farm On Tour.”
The first book covers a day in the life of several “ordinary” farm animals that become rock band “Punk Farm” when Farmer Joe goes to bed. Through clever writing and most excellent artwork (air guitar, please) Krososczka writes a cool, original and fun story.
When we quickly get to the concert, the band plays a killer version of “Old MacDonald Had A Farm.” Every band member has a verse: Cow the drummer goes boom, crash; chicken’s keyboards go wild; pig’s guitar screeches a solo. Each page is not only fun to read, but fun to improvise, and in a way that can be tailor-read to suit your own child’s enjoyment.
“Punk Farm On Tour” is kind of like when a rock band produces a second album that’s way better than their debut (Nirvana, Nevermind; Wilco, Being There; Led Zeppelin, II; etc.)
This one follows the adventures of Punk Farm as they tour the U.S. The song this time is a raucous version of “The Wheels On The Bus.” The bus is replaced with their tour van and its rockin’ sound effects. It also develops the characters a little further, increasing its improvisational value: goat as quasi-hippie, pig as rock-egomaniac and so on.
One more cool addition to the books is the accompanying website, complete with actual versions of the songs.
These books are great because of their repeat readability and the rare ability of the author to hit his target audience perfectly in tune (with lots of feedback, of course.)
