When the worst thing is scratched paintwork (Usborne Farmyard Tales: Tractor in Trouble - Heather Amery)

Member Name: zerub

Product:	Usborne Farmyard Tales: Tractor in Trouble - Heather Amery
Date:	05/04/09 (98 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A story about tractors and rescues

Disadvantages: A bit too similar to some of the other books in the series

This is one of the stories in the Usborne Farmyard Tales series. If your child likes it, there are dozens more! The first part of this review is about the series, and the second part about the particular book.

--- The series ---
The stories are about two children, their mum who is the farmer, and their dog, and what they get up to on the farm. The stories are short, and exciting (if you are three).

--- Learning to read ---
The clever thing about these stories is that they are written on two levels. At the top of each page is a short sentence, and at the bottom of the page is a couple of longer sentences. You can read the book by reading the top of each page, or the bottom, or both. If you read both there will be a little bit of overlap.

For example, the top of the page says "Today it is very windy."
And the bottom of the page says "The wind is blowing in the trees and it is very cold. Poppy and Sam play in the barn."

The point is that when your child starts to read, they can read the top of the page fairly easily and so have the pleasure of reading a much-loved story by themselves. Although it is entirely possible that you will have read the story so many times by then that they'll know the words by heart.

--- The pictures ---
The illustrations are quite detailed, so there is a lot to look at. My son pretty much knows the stories so he can sit and examine the pictures, and does so for quite long periods of time.

On each pages there is a small duck hiding somewhere - my children take great delight in hunting for and spotting the duck on each page.

--- The format ---
The book has 16 pages which is a good length for a 2-4 year-old's attention span. You can get them in several formats. I like the small ones - 14cm square books. They are small and light, which makes them very easy for a little child to hold and carry around. Most children's picture books are very big (so you can get a lot of good pictures in!) but these are child-sized. They're good for taking on holiday too - plenty of stories but not too much suitcase room.

--- The price ---
It costs £3.99, although I would recommend buying a few in a set and getting them cheaper that way.

--- Tractor in Trouble ---
Hooray, another story with a tractor in it! "And all the farm machines" too. I like the fact that Mrs Boot is the farmer and Ted is her helper; my sons are envious of Poppy and Sam who have a whole barn to ride their toy tractors up and down in!

There is a moment of suspense when the children hear a terrible crash, and then, oh excitement, a tree has blown onto the tractor. Ted is upset because, oh horror, the tractor is scratched. Once again, Poppy and Sam run for help and return with Farmer Dray and his horse. If you've read any of the other books in the series you may be experiencing deja vu at this point.

However, just to vary things a bit, Farmer Dray produces a chainsaw to cut up the tree - this is a popular bit. Then Dolly pulls all the branches away and everyone goes back to the farm.

Ted touches up the scratches on the tractor with a paintbrush. If Daddy is reading the story he goes on to have a little chat about how we NEVER try to paint the car ...

This story is rather too similar to "The Runaway Tractor" but if you have small boys who like stories about tractors and rescues, that isn't really a bad thing.

Summary: Another one for the collection