It’s a story! It’s a poem!

A helpful little snake. Smart cows. Busy mice. A foolish farmer.

Cows are in their barn., waiting to be fed some corn. But there are mice in the corn, eating it up. A little milksnake is also in the barn, and she knows exactly what to do, to get rid of the mice, and keep the cows happy. But the farmer sees the snake, and doesn’t understand that the snake is a friend of the farmer as well as his cows. So the farmer goes after the snake, who escapes, leaving the mice in the corn, along with some very unhappy cows.

Sara Swan Miller, author of many wonderful books for children, shows us that there are surprises and important lessons in nature, if we look hard enough. This delightful book, with great illustrations by Abby Liscum, is a story in the form of a poem, and it’s one that you can sing, if you know the tune to Turkey In The Straw. And just in case readers don’t know that tune, they or their friends or their grown-ups can play it from some pages inside the book.