A sweet picture book about the life of two young children and their animals on a farm. A gentle funny story about a barn that catches on fire. The family run to save the barn, though as it turns out, it wasn’t on fire at all…

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This book is part of a series written by Heather Amery and illustrated by Stephen Cartwright known as the Farmyard Tales. All of the books in the series are worth having. The illustrations are loveable and memorable. For many of us, Stephen Cartwright’s drawings (particularly of the animals) are part of our beloved memories of childhood. The stories are gentle and simple, yet serious enough to be interesting. Each story is about the adventures of this same family that live on Apple Farm. Some of the stories are similar to other in the series, but younger children do not mind the repetition.

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The text is written to support literacy learning. Each page has a simpler sentence written in larger letters at the top. This is intended so that a young reader can read it. Each page also has a slightly longer more detailed piece of text for the adult to read. In this way adult and child read the story together. Sweet and loveable book overall.