The timeless circle-game "The Farmer in the Dell" is one of the first that children learn to play, and its happy, lilting song is among the first they learn to sing. Here, the celebrated picture-book artist Ilse Plume has imagined a fresh setting for the lyrics - a farmstead in the Pennsylvania Dutch country. A young Amish farmer takes a wife, the beautiful wife takes a child, the child takes a nurse, the nurse takes a dog, and with each successive verse the seasons turn, the farmer grows older, and his farm grows more prosperous, more lively, more richly populated. Ms. Plume's coloured-pencil drawings are inspired by the folk art and decorative motifs of the Pennsylvania Dutch. They are as comforting as a star-patterned quilt, and as sweet, warm, and delightful as a homemade apple pie. It includes sheet music, lyrics, and directions for playing the game.
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Ilse Plume is a collector and illustrator of children's songs and folktales from around the world. Her first book, The Bremen-Town Musicians, was a Caldecott Honor Book for 1981. She has since created many other beautiful works, including The Twelve Days of Christmas and she has also illustrated books by Jane Langton, Nancy Williard, & Charlotte Zolotow.
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