Review by Booklist Review
A familiar childhood song gets an African twist in Isadora's latest picture book. She takes readers on safari to the plains of Africa to meet elephants, cheetahs, and dassies (E-I-E-I-O). Old Mikamba's farm is a game park, so while there is some interaction between the two small children in the book and the animals, most of them are presented against a backdrop wilder and freer than any space Old MacDonald could offer his domestic stock. Rhinos BELLOW-BELLOW through the grass; a springbok AH-AH-AHs across a sun-baked terrain; and an elephant BARAAA-BARAAAs with a baby following behind. While the animal sounds are fun and lend themselves perfectly to a storytime rendition, the artwork is a particular treat. Isadora incorporates oil, ink, pencil, and printed paper to create collages that give a distinct sense of place, set against plentiful white space that allows the animals to pop on each double-page spread. An extensive concluding note provides interesting facts about all of the animals included, as well as a mention of the role game farms and parks play in protecting Africa's endangered species.--Dean, Kara Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
As she did in There Was a Tree, Isadora sets this riff on a classic children's song in Africa. Using "Old MacDonald" as a template, her rendition introduces 14 wild residents of a game farm and the sounds they make. With a few exceptions (dassie, springbok), the species will be familiar to most readers, and their phonetically punchy utterings, which include a baboon's "OOH-HA-HA" and a wildebeest's "HONK-HONK," are fun to imitate while singing along. Though Isadora's earth-toned, mixed-media illustrations are uncluttered-the animals appear against mostly white backdrops with minimal landscape-there is complexity within. The collages feature an inventive assortment of textures and patterns: elephants' and rhinos' hides are newsprint, wildebeests' fur resembles wood grain, and giraffes' spots are swatches of patterned textiles; borders feature the scrubby vegetation and low hills of the book's plains setting. Intriguing incidental facts about each animal (no two zebras have the same stripe pattern; there are more than 370 species of parrots) are included at the end of the book, which strikes a neat balance between being rousing and soothing. Ages 3-5. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Horn Book Review
The animals in Old Mikamba's African game farm give a sense of the wild nicely juxtaposed against the familiar refrain of "Old MacDonald." Isadora uses textured paper and newsprint along with oil, ink, and pencil to create animals that leap off the white pages. Kids will eagerly honk honk like the wildebeest and ooh ha-ha like the baboon as they sing along. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A familiar text is adapted to use in an unfamiliar environment with happy results. Old Mikamba's game farm includes a host of animals from the African plains, including baboons, elephants and cheetahs. After the traditional e-i-e-i-o, the baboon cavorts and says, "ooh-ha-ha." The elephant snorts, "baraaa-baraaa," and the cheetah makes a "grrrr-grrrr" sound. It's hardly a revolutionary formula, but the combination of the known and the unknown (Isadora introduces springboks and wildebeests), the amusing noises that each animal makes, and the exuberant collages incorporating woven fabrics, newsprint, and other materials all make for a winning strategy. Mikamba's child helpers on the game farm appear from time to time, but the animals take center stage. Tidbits of information about the animals are presented at the end, but their ranges are omitted. Although these animals can be found in different parts of Africa, the game-park setting allows all of them to be found together. From dawn to dusk, as represented in the handsomely painted endpapers, young children will want to visit this farm and "grunt-grunt" with the hippos and "chirp-chirp" with the ostriches. (Picture book. 3-6)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
