Tractor by Sally Sutton. Illus. by Brian Lovelock

My two year old grandson loves this book. It is the perfect read aloud for young children and would make an excellent resource for older children in the classroom, when a class is looking at how food is produced. The reader is guided through the whole process of growing corn, from the machine that is used to prepare the soil, right through to the harvest of the corn. Each piece of machinery is named and its function is described in an easy to understand way, while the bold, colourful illustrations complement the text perfectly. Meanwhile the tractor is at the centre of the action and a diagram at the back of the back shows all the parts that a tractor is made of.

Down on the farm, let’s cut the earth. Chop, chop! Don’t stop! Break that ground! Down on the farm, let’s cut the earth. What makes that cut-cut-cutting sound? 

Sally Sutton’s narrative is very rhythmic and invites the young child to repeat the refrain 'Down on the farm', and then guess the name of the machine that is being described. This is a book that toddlers will ask to be read again and again and consequently their vocabulary about machines on the farm really grows with words like plough, harrow, seed drill and harvester.

Tractor joins other books by Sally Sutton and illustrated by Brian Loveday, including Roadworks, Dig, dump, roll and Wheels.

It is a great resource for home and school libraries.

Themes: Tractors, Machinery, Farms, Corn production.

Pat Pledger