The Farmer’s Pyjamas (Ruth Paul, Walker)

Ruth Paul’s The Farmer’s Pyjamas is a playful, light-hearted rhyming story that puts a humorous spin on daily life in the farmyard. After a hard day’s work tending to her animals, the farmer brushes her teeth and gets ready for bed, only to look in her drawer to find her favourite pyjamas are missing! And “without her pyjamas all covered in sheep, the weary farmer CANNOT go to sleep”. The farm animals quickly notice that the usually organised farmer’s lack of sleep is affecting her work, as she tries to milk the horse and waters the dog, so they embark on a nighttime pyjama party to find the missing sleepwear. The Farmer’s Pyjamas is a fun read-aloud experience for children aged 2 to 7, including those learning to read independently. Children will enjoy the simple but witty rhyming text, and giggle at the farmer’s misfortunes as she “pushes the piglets into the coop, and feeds the chickens a scooper of poop”. Paul’s simple, expressive illustrations are similarly filled with humorous details, from the farmer’s belly button peeking out of her shirt to underwear fluttering on the washing line. Her depiction of a farmer as a kindly woman with greying hair and a bright blue bandage on her knee is a refreshing change from the classic overall-clad male farmer.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Kirsten Barich is a teacher librarian in South Australia. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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