The Man Who Didn’t Like Animals
by Deborah Underwood; illus. by LeUyen Pham
Preschool, Primary    Clarion/HarperCollins    40 pp.
9/24    9780358567134    $19.99

Did Old MacDonald always have a farm? This inventive prequel depicts a man living in town who “loved his tidy home and who didn’t like animals.” The illustrations bring readers cinematically down from a bird’s-eye view of a busy neighborhood replete with pets and other animals into the interior of the man’s home. A copy of The Jungle rests on a table. Scrabble words in play on another table include quietly, island, and alone. Then a cat shows up at the door with a “meow,” and it turns out they have a lot in common. Soon another cat appears. A giant dog arrives next, followed by ducks, chickens, pigs, and more. A cacophony of animal sounds erupts in speech balloons from the art. The creatures slowly win the man over. His house looks less tidy but also cozier and much fuller. When the neighbors complain about the noise, the man sends the animals away. The warmth drains out of the illustrations and the colors fade to grays during this exodus, but the menagerie has barely made it across the street before the man sets off after them, leading to a hearty singalong happening on Old MacDonald’s Farm: “Ee i Ee i O!” The art and text of this skillfully designed picture book work fluidly together to bring genuine heart and humor to the creative and rewarding backstory of a preschool musical favorite.

From the ">November/December 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.