Midnight on the Farm

Description

28 pages
$14.95
ISBN 0-19-540876-4
DDC jC811'.54

Year

1992

Contributor

Illustrations by Regolo Ricci
Reviewed by Sandy Campbell

Sandy Campbell is a reference librarian in the Science and Technology Library at the University of Alberta.

Review

This book could have been much better than it is—a picture book that
portrays “that mystical time between wakefulness and slumber” as it
is experienced by a small boy looking out a window.

Each set of facing pages is a painting by Regolo Ricci with a text
banner at the top. Taken individually, it is difficult to find fault
with the artwork. The rich, dark colors capture the sense of nighttime,
and children will delight in the details.

Taken as a whole, though, the book has problems. For example, we do not
know that we have a narrator until halfway through the book, and we do
not meet him until the end. Instead, we are immediately plunged into
what various animals are doing at midnight and what is happening in the
farmhouse. Next we are taken on an excursion off the farm to the docks
for no obvious reason other than to be introduced to the “ship of
dreams” cliché, and the modern rivetted ship that we see at the dock
inexplicably becomes a galleon. Then we are returned to the farm, where
we meet our insomniac narrator. He finally says “good night,” but
before we see him asleep, we are shown what the fish are doing. (This
segment looks as though it belongs at the front of the book, with the
other animals. One wonders if the pages have been printed out of
sequence.)

Some of the language is also problematic. Although the horses are lying
in long grass under a tree, they are inaccurately described as lying in
“hay,” which usually denotes cut grass. The stars are described as
“turning,” which is not something a small child would observe. The
fish have “blue” dreams—why not pink or green?

While this is a pretty book, the inconsistency, disjointed structure,
and sometimes uninspired language distract readers and listeners from
the theme of the story and the calming mood that it is supposed to
create.

Citation

Hume, Stephen Eaton., “Midnight on the Farm,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed October 12, 2024, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/24611.