‘Barn at Night’ gives glimpse of rural life with bedtime story

 

Barn at Night

Written by Michelle Houts and illustrated by Jen Betton

Feeding Minds Press, 2021

“Barn at Night” tells a sweet story of a girl and her father going out to the barn before dawn and again after dark to do chores.

Michelle Houts’ poetic text and Jen Betton’s soft, glowing watercolor illustrations combine to create a warm and comforting bedtime story.

The narrator, a young girl, tells how her father wakes her up early in the morning when it is still dark. The two of them bundle up and walk across crunchy snow to the barn.

They open the barn door and their steer Ed and mule Miletus greet them by pricking up an ear and braying.

Tabby cats and a Siamese cat hurry over to sit by the milk pan and wait to be fed. The girl pets them.

The narrator and her dad feed the calves a milky mixture and the cattle hay.

The girl pets the velvety muzzle of  Eleanor, a brown mare.

At night, the girl and her father return to the barn to feed the animals again. They discover that Eleanor has given birth to a foal. They watch as the baby horse gets up and takes his first steps.

When they open the barn door, they see it has started snowing outside. An owl flies overhead. The story ends as the girl thinks about how she feels safe in the barn at night.

This quiet picture book will make a nice bedtime story, and teach children about life on a farm. The publisher, Feeding Minds Press, is a project of the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture, whose mission is to build awareness and understanding of agriculture through education.

About the Author

Michelle Houts is an award-winning author of a dozen fiction and nonfiction books for children. She writes from her restored one-room schoolhouse in Ohio. The author of “The Beef Princess of Practical County,” and “Silent Swoop: An Owl, an Egg, and a Warm Shirt Pocket,” illustrated by Deb Hoeffner. She enjoys writing about rural life and nature. Find out more at www.michellehouts.com.    

About the Illustrator

Jen Betton is both an illustrator and a writer. Her other books include “Hedgehog Needs a Hug,” winner of Pennsylvania’s Keystone to Reading Award, which she both wrote and illustrated, and “Twilight Chant,” written by Holly Thompson. She grew up playing on friends’ farms in Pennsylvania. Illustrating “Barn at Night” gave her a delightful excuse to lurk around old barns and feed goats. She lives with her family near Dallas. You can see more of her work at www.jenbetton.com.