The farmer and the clown by Marla Frazee

Simon & Schuster, 2014. ISBN 9781442497443
(Age: 5-8) Highly recommended. Every now and then a book comes along which just literally blows one away. This one came along accompanied by some hype which I tried not to let impair my judgement but turns out the hype is well-deserved.
There is something completely magical about wordless books which really just tell a story so wholly and engagingly that the lack of text goes unnoticed. This is one of those books.
A farmer out alone in his fields sees a circus train in the distance and also sees something - someone - fall off the caboose!
A baby clown finds he is all alone momentarily but the kindly farmer takes him home and not only looks after him but the two form a wonderful friendship and make discoveries about each other in the course of just one day. When the circus train comes back to look for their missing clown baby, the two new friends have a touching farewell.
This is just delightful! It is sweet and amusing and above all, allows the reader all the capacity to 'tell' the story revealed through the whimsical illustrations.
I just LOVE it! Highly recommended for young readers from Prep age upwards. Marla Frazee is a two-time Caldecott Honor Medallist and even just this book demonstrates why that is so.
Sue Warren