As she has done with many traditional tales, the author/illustrator sets the familiar "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" somewhere in Africa. This decision allows readers to encounter 14 different animal species, many of whom are the endangered list. Young readers will delight in the sounds made by a baboon, a flat lizard, a dassie, and a warthog, among others, and certainly want to sing along as all manner of animals fill Old Mikamba's farm. The collage illustrations, created with oil paints, printed paper, palette paper, ink, and pencil, are lively and interesting. I must confess to a fondness for the elephant. This picture book makes an excellent addition to book shelves dedicated to young readers, but it's still fun for older readers to read aloud to much audience participation. Journey to Africa and experience farm life in a different way with this new interpretation of Old MacDonald. In this version, children are introduced to a menagerie of African animals and their sounds, beautifully illustrated by Caldecott Honor winner Rachel Isadora. Less familiar animals like baboons, dassies, warthogs, and springboks are featured with more familiar ones like lizards, rhinos, and lions. There are sounds for each animal to add to the E-I-E-I-O of it all. The final pages include extra information for each animal. Reviewer 19
What do You think about Old Mikamba Had A Farm (2013)?
A great way to introduce new animals to kids using the familiar song Old MacDonald.
—Alyssa
Can't wait to give this a try in storytime! Might be kind of fun as a storytime.
—barcarash
Add this to my favorite onomatopoeia booklist
—chubblesome
