by Moe Zilla

Created on: December 03, 2010

"Farmer Brown was going on vacation…"
 
That signals trouble - especially if you've read "Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type." Doreen Cronin spun a wonderful story about how the farm animals had discovered a typewriter, and then confronted the poor farmer with their lists of demands. That book also launched a popular series about the mischievous farm animals - and this was its first sequel. "Giggle, Giggle, Quack" opens with a warning to Farmer Bob.

 
"Keep an eye on Duck. He's trouble."
 
Sure enough, by the second page, the duck is eying a pencil on the ground - and smiling - while the cows seem to be exchanging conspiratorial glance. ("Farmer Brown thought he heard giggles and snickers as he drove away, but he couldn't be sure...") Farmer Brown had left a list of instructions behind for his brother, but when the brother finally reads them, they don't seem very farm-like. For example, the first note informs him that Tuesday night is always pizza night.
 
"The hens prefer anchovies…"
 
As the farmer's brother reads the suspicious note, the duck watches from a window, with the pencil still in his mouth. A seemingly-innocuous illustration shows the duck peeking in with two chickens, and their reaction is revealed in a caption: "Giggle, giggle, cluck." Turn the page, and all the barn animals are clustered around cartons of pizza on the barn floor. There's hens, pigs, and even three smiling cows.
 
I like how this book captured the same playful tone as the original book, and there's even some allusions to its plot. When the animals all settle down for bed, illustrator Betsy Lewin adds a special touch. The pigs are sleeping under electric blankets - and Lewin even draws in the thermostats. The farm animals had demanded the warmer blankets in the earlier book, "Click, Clack, Moo."
 
I really enjoyed Lewin's watercolor sketches, with their fluid, wobbly, dark-black outlines. For example, when Farmer Brown warns his brother to keep the duck in the house (because "he's a bad influence on the cows") the duck is shown sharpening his pencil. And Lewin experimented with different shades for her watercolors, eventually finding colors that help to set the perfect mood. "Thursday night is movie night," reads another note - as the cows all settle in to a beautiful shadowy-blue living room to watch the television! There's a white background for the next illustration - Farmer Brown, calling in from his tropical vacation. 

He hears his animals giggling in his living room, and realizes it's time to hurry home to his mischievous animals…

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