Winter Barn

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Summary: A barn becomes a refugee for all creatures during the winter
Review: "Winter Barn," written and illustrated by Peter Parnall, reveals how a Maine barn serves as a safe haven for animals during the long, cold winter. The stone foundation protects a ribbon snake, red ants and a white-footed mouse, while in the rafters there are sleeping bats. Stabled in the barn are horses, chickens, sheep and fourteen cats pretty much all over the place. Beneath the barn woodchucks sleep in their burrow, while in the hay there is a porcupine and a raccoon. Unfortunately, a skunk comes visiting. Parnall, who raises wood and sheep on his Maine farm, shows how life goes on in every nook and cranny of the old barn. He even pays attention to how the centuries old barn is held together by moritses and tenons. The overall effect of these pencil drawings is a simple reminder to young readers that life goes on all around them even in the dead of winter. Children who have never been on a farm or been around a marvelous old barn, will be entranced.