Sue Machin

This simple, funny read-aloud follows a boy's exciting stroll through the countryside. The boy sees a black cat, then a brown horse, then a red cow, and so on, and before he knows it, he's being trailed by the entire menagerie!

This simple, funny read-aloud follows a boy's exciting stroll through the countryside. The boy sees a black cat, then a brown horse, then a red cow, and so on, and before he knows it, he's being trailed by the entire menagerie!

This is a really cute pattern book. A crazy-haired little boy takes a walk through the country, seeing lots of animals along the way. Before he knows it, he's being followed by the entire list of animals--a black cat, a brown horse, a red cow, and so on. The large print, repetition, rhyme, and beautiful illustrations make this a great book for beginning readers or English language learners. Even if a student doesn't know exactly what the non-repeated words on each page are, they can look to show more the descriptive pictures for cues, which is still a strength. The sing-songiness of the book would also make it good for choral reading. I highly recommend this for a pattern book! show less

This book is about a child who wants to "go visiting" and picks up several animals along the way. In my opinion, this is a very informative piece of contemporary realistic fiction, in more than one way. I enjoyed this book. The plot was organized and flowed at a steady pace. As you turn each page and head to the next one, you are introduced to a new animal that is going visiting with the child. This book is organized and flows steadily because as the child and animals continue to go show more visiting, along the way, they are picking up new animals, in greater quantity. For example, the first page shows a child and a dog that start to go visiting, and on the next page, they meet "one brown foal ready to play." This pattern continues until they encounter "six yellow puppies ready to play," at the end of the story. I found the language in the book to be very easy to follow because it is progressive and the rhyming makes it a quick, easy read for a child. After each time the child and animals collect a few new animals, every other page says, "Let's go visiting. What do you say?" The illustrations on each page also show exactly what the words are saying so it would be easier for a child who may be an English Language Learner to follow along because he/she could look at the illustrations to see what is happening. For example, one page says, "Three black kittens are ready to play." The page has an illustration of three black kittens that begin to play with the two red calves and the dog who already started on the adventure. Also, the illustrations are very simple so there is not too much going on, on one page, making the text and illustrations easier to follow and understand. I love how the book incorporates progressive counting, using colors to describe the animals, and rhyme, all to make the book that much more educational.

The big idea/message of the book is to get children to learn how to count, recognize different colors, and observe new animals while going on a visiting adventure, all together. All of the animals, as well as the child "go visiting," to no specific place, but the story takes children on a farmyard adventure with all of the different animals, and the reader can use his/her imagination to think of a place where the child and animals may be heading. show less