June 14, 2019
The Farmer and the Clown:
Written and illustrated by Marla Frazee
Fiction
Wordless picture book
Awards:
- Starred Reviews in School Library Journal, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Horn Book, Children’s Bookshelf, and Bulletin
- 2015 Boston Globe – Horn Book Picture Book Award
- A Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book of the Year 2014
- A Kirkus Best Children’s Book of of the Year 2014
- A New York Times Book Review “Notable Book of 2014”
- An NPR Favorite Book of 2014
- Fall 2014 Kid’s Indie Next List
- A 2014 Junior Library Guild Selection
- Horn Book Fanfare Book 2014
- A Boston Globe Best Picture Book of 2014
- A Shelf Awareness Best Book of 2014
- A Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book for 2014
- Huffington Post’s “Best Friendship” Book for 2014
- USA illustration nominee for the IBBY Honour List
- 2015 Golden Kite Honor for Picture Book Illustration
- National Cartoonist Society 2015 “Silver Reuben” Award Nominee for Book Illustration
- NCTE Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children Honor Book
- Southern California Independent Booksellers Association 2015 Children’s Picture Book Award
- An ALA Notable Book
- A CCBC Choice Award
- A Bank Street Best Book of 2015
- USA Illustration choice for the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) 2016
- Georgia Book Award Nominee
About the author/illustrator:
Marla Frazee is a writer and illustrator from Los Angeles. Marla attended the Art Center College of Design. She has written and illustrated a number of award winning picture books in addition to The Farmer and the Clown including Boot & Shoe, God Got a Dog, Roller Coaster, Santa Claus the World’s Number One Toy Expert, The Boss Baby, The Seven Silly Eaters, Stars, and Walk On!. Her love for writing and illustrating began early on and the first book she ever created, The Friendship Circle, won an award at the California State Fair and was duplicated for her school’s library. She has found inspiration in the works of other writers and illustrators, including Maurice Sendak and Robert McCloskey.
Book Summary:
The Farmer and the Clown is a wordless picture book about a little clown that gets separated from his circus family and is found by a lonely farmer. A new and unlikely friendship is formed between the two characters that changes them both forever. The farmer quickly stops frowning and learns to be playful as the companions care for each other. When the clown’s family returns, the new friends must heartbreakingly hug and wave goodbye. The farmer returns home and we can predict another unlikely friendship as a circus monkey is sneakily following him home.
Marla uses subdued hues and tones and splashes of color to convey meaning and evoke feelings. The book starts out with virtually no color until the little clown falls out of the train. Before the clown arrives, the farmer has a scowl on his face, working hard in the field, all alone, and with 3 black birds flying overhead. In addition to using facial expressions to tell the story, Marla also uses body language. When the train goes by, the farmer stands with his hand on his hip and stares at the train. It is almost as if he is annoyed by its presence and how it has interrupted him. Then when the clown flies out the back of the train, the farmer’s body language shows that he is shocked, he drops his rake and you can almost tell that his mouth is open in shock, even though he isn’t facing the reader. The farmer still doesn’t smile even though the cute little happy clown is excited to see him and runs over to hug him. Marla also utilized open space to convey meaning. The farmer is out there all alone and no one else is visible for miles. The landscape is flat and barren with one a single tree far off in the distance. Once it is nighttime, the little clown seems sad and most likely misses his family. On the next page the farmer tries to cheer up the clown. The illustrations become warmer and more color is added. The farmer finally has a smile on his face and runs around in a child-like playful and silly manner. The final pages are filled with all the things that the clown and the farmer do together. There’s less emphasis on empty space which lessens the feeling of loneliness that was created in the beginning of the story. The images change as the characters change.
Being a wordless picture book, students must work a little hard to find meaning and comprehend the events of the story as portraying in the images without the support of text. This is a great book for supporting the active learning and development of visual literacy. Students will need to slow down, pay close attention, and be aware of subtle details. I think this would be a great book for students to recognize and name feelings and emotions, for them to see how color, space, texture are used to create meaning and elicit certain feelings. Students can retell the story in their own words which would support the development of vocabulary, creativity, imagination, and allow them to play with language.
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