Welcome to the family farm, where Matt and Tara, along with their children, Jack and Alice, take care of a bevy of animals. The family isn't referred to often in the text, but they ground the books in the Animals on the Family Farm series, helping children to understand how humans and animals interact on a real farm. Cock-a-doodle-do! Yes, the run is rising, and the roosters are crowing in Chickens on the Family Farm. Here, in addition to labeled diagrams of a hen and a rooster, we learn about the coop, nesting, and how chicks stay cozy under a heat lamp. Pigs on the Family Farm introduces big pigs (a male can weigh up to 700 pounds) and wee little piggies, which sleep piled in an adorable heap. The goats covered in Goats on the Family Farm include the buck (male), doe (female) and kids (kids!). Goats are curious creatures and love to jump and climb (even, as one picture shows, on picnic tables). Turkeys on the Family Farm discusses the difference between a tom and a hen: a tom's "head has more lumpy parts.

" With labeled diagrams and life cycles, a cheerful design, boldface vocabulary words, and crisp photographs, this should get young children amped up for a hands-on visit to a family farm., Booklist June 1 & 15, 2013.