Classic Rereads: Maple Hill Farm by Alice and Martin Provensen

I discovered the Maple Hill Farm books as a tween I think, so some time in the 90s. Yes, I was a teenager who liked to read picture books. I loved the illustrations, the sly humor, and the tone of the books. They're also great for tracing the pictures (I have no idea why I was interested in that; I can't draw and have never been particularly interested in art).

We had several of the original books at my library, but they were ancient, worn, and had long since ceased to circulate. I put them on a list of books that I would like to purchase when/if they were ever republished. Now that at least one is back in print, I think it's time to look at them and see if they're relevant for our modern library audience.

An Owl and Three Pussycats was originally published in 1981 and A Horse and a Hound A Goat and A Gander in 1979. As you might guess from the titles, both are overviews of "some special animals" that live at Maple Hill Farm. The books are oversized, with plenty of room for detailed progressions of the animals, like this hilarious page of cat illustrations.

These are more detailed looks at the animals shown in the two overview book. Our Animal Friends, originally published in 1974, and The Year at Maple Hill Farm, 1978. Our Animal Friends is also oversized, and covers a variety of animals, some now dead and some living. It lists the cats of An Owl and Three Pussycats as dead and doesn't really mention the horses. It also has a list of "some of the dogs" that have lived there, with some being "put away." "This dog killed sheep and had to be put away (as the saying goes). This dog snapped at children and wet on beds. He is not around any more either."

The Year at Maple Hill Farm is most often seen in a small paperback format, but does also come in an oversized binding like the others. It presents a scene and animals from each month at the farm, leading to the next. In May the animals get haircuts, in June the pond is full, in October the pumpkins are harvested.

Our Animal Friends and The Year at Maple Hill Farm have both been recently republished in paperback and prebound format. Are these worth the investment? The prebound copies run close to $20 apiece, which is almost twice what I normally pay for picture books. While I love the nostalgic illustrations, brisk, matter-of-fact narration, sly humor, and lyrical descriptions of place and seasons, they are lengthy and a bit too blunt about life and death for most of my audience.

Sadly, these are ones that I will probably let pass by. I am happy to have them in my personal collection and I think in a solidly rural area or somewhere with a lot of family farms they would be appreciated. We do have both, but they are not the bulk of our audience, which tends to be more small town suburban.