The Farm Team

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

The term “farm team” usually refers to a minor league sports team
that develops the skills of players who hope to play for the parent
“big league” team some day. But in the case of this Bailey–Slavin
comic collaboration, the words are to be taken literally, as the team
consists of a variety of farm animals that love to play hockey.

For half a century, their quest has been to win the Stolski Cup, a gold
teacup that had been lost by the farm owner’s grandfather before being
found by the animals and appropriated as their hockey championship
trophy. However, each time the Farm Team has played for the cup, they
have lost to the Bush League Bandits—truly a bunch of wild animals.
This year, the members of Farm Team have practised extra hard, but on
the day of the game, the Bandits play an especially dirty brand of
hockey. For instance, with the Bandits leading by just a goal in the
second period, Needles, one of the Bandits’ players, “runs” the
Farm Team’s goalie, leaving dozens of quills embedded in him. Entering
the third period with the score tied, the Bandits insert a ringer—a
grizzly bear. The injury-depleted Farm Team must finally call on its
last reserves, a pair of benchwarmers—Little Pete, a piglet runt, and
Mariette, a chicken both in species and courage—and together they
score the cup-winning goal.

Slavin’s detailed, cartoon-like illustrations, rendered in acrylics,
fully capture the humorous action of Bailey’s text. Highly
recommended.