Make & Play: Farm by Joey Chou
Published by Nosy Crow|Allen & Unwin
Date: May 2018
R.R.P. $14.99
Joey Chou’s Make & Play: Farm is unique and creative, packed with many opportunities for imaginative play and storytelling. This book is enormous fun, and emphasises that books are full of possibilities.
Most of the pages are full easy to pop out people who are easy to slot back in when the reader has finished playing with them. There are farmers, children, farm animals, a tractor, a scarecrow and an apple tree to create with. Not only do the children get to play and create their own story, but this beautifully designed book also has instructions for crafts, how to grow your own radishes, the words to Old MacDonald’s Farm, a recipe and a farmyard game. There is quite a lot packed into one small book, without it feeling like there is too much.
I spent some time playing around with the book and thought about how I would have used it as a child. I know I would have added some textured material or mat to it to make the green fields, I would have begged my dad to let me plant something – although radishes wouldn’t have been the first thing I thought of, and without a doubt I would have added my lego or blogs to the pop outs, playing for hours on end.
I believe this book has great potential for storytelling, particularly for children to tell their own stories; this makes it a really valuable literacy experience. I like that Joey Chou hasn’t added a story to it, although I understand that some people find it easier to read from the page I believe this book has been created to stretch the readers imagination.
Overall, Nosy Crow have again delivered a superb book that is completely child focused. The pieces are sturdy and should last for a long time, it’s fun, imaginative and full of possibilities .
Thank you to Nosy Crow and Allen & Unwin for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Little Big Reads 