The Farmer and the Clown

In this wordless book, a boy dressed in a clown costume and makeup falls off a train in the middle of nowhere. When the farmer whose land he landed on discovers him, he does all he can to cheer him up and make him feel welcome. Finally, when the train comes back, the boy is reunited with his family

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and thanks him for all he's done.

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Oh how I love this tale of a small clown who falls from the traveling circus train. Landing in a farmer's field, both are curious of each other. As the farmer gently takes care of the clown, he grows to love the ways of this very special being, and likewise, the clown embraces farming and the

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farmer.

Seamless and wordless, the author creates a magical story of loneliness, of love, and of trust.

The theme is universal, and incredibly rendered. This is a book to give as a present to adults as well as children. As the clown and farmer come together and then depart, they may have bounced into each other's lives, but they will forever be solidly anchored by love.

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I enjoyed this story but I did feel a little saddened by it. I felt like the
Farmer was going to be very lonely without his little Clown.

Response - A beautiful book about acceptance and kindness

Curricular connection - since this is a wordless picture book, I would use it to teach prediction or inference; unit associated with character education

The book has no text and to be honest I do not know what kind of words could be put on here other than rhyming sentences because they are fun and memorable. The book does a good job at giving you this "middle of nowhere" loneliness image, I think the farmer has been there for a long time and takes

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the boy in to fill whatever loneliness one could feel in a deserted place. Clowns are scary to a lot of kids, so by making him this small innocent looking kid who needs someone to look after him, like all children do.

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This is a nice wordless picture book that involves a clown falling off a train, and a farmer gives him a place to stay, until the train returns for the clown. But the train and clown return and drop off another friend.

The Farmer and the clown is a wordless book that expresses growing friendship and helping the vulnerable. Frazee does a great job showing emotion by facial expressions and body language. She also does a great job with the movement of the clown as he fell off the train.

I'm not a fan of clowns but it's impossible not to like this touching, whimsical wordless picture book.

This book is very cute. It has no words, but the illustrations are so well done that the story is easily understood. A little clown (a child) falls off a train going past a farmer's field and the farmer takes him in. The clown is obviously distraught, but makes friends with the farmer. The farmer

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teaches the clown how to farm, and the clown teaches the farmer how to juggle. In the end, the train comes back for the little boy, who is reunited with his clown family. Ironically, in the end, the train leaves--but leaves a little monkey behind, who quietly follows behind the unknowing farmer.

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A touching story told through powerful and well designed illustrations without any text. The wordless story unfolds and touches on themes on loneliness, love, difference and family.

This wordless picture book tells the story of a young clown that falls off the back of a train into a farmer's field. The farmer takes him in and after giving him a bath discovers a frown underneath his painted on smile. The farmer then takes on the role as a clown to cheer him up. When the train

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returns for the young clown, they exchange farewells, and a monkey follows the farmer. This is a playful end to the story, and makes you wonder if the farmer is going to act like a monkey!

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This is a good example of a wordless picture book, because the book has absolutely no words, with the exception of, "Toot, toot, toot!" next to an illustration of a train chugging along. The illustrations tell the story completely through pictures of a small clown that accidently fell off the

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circus train, lives with a farmer and they become good friends, and then is reunited with his circus family at the end. The illustrations for this book are black pencil and gouache.

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Wow.  I really don't know what to say.  I'm not sure it's True to make the farm so very drab & joyless (a la' the movie of the Wizard of Oz) but that artistic choice does make the twist at the end all the more effective.

The illustrations are beautiful. I was particularly drawn to the sense of movement from the characters, as well as the contrast of red and yellows to gray and brown. The story itself, though there were no words, was very bittersweet and the meaning was deepened by the note on the cover flap.

Beautifully illustrated book that shows the story of a grumpy old farmer who is surprised when a baby clown ends up on his property. As they get to know one another, neither the farmer nor the clown turn out to be what they first appeared. Their lives change from the meeting, and the farmer is

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given new hope and energy.

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The lack of words helps emphasize focusing on the illustrations and the way in which they can tell a story all by themselves. Even though there aren't any words, the narrative is very detailed. A good story for getting kids to use their own narrative abilities to talk about what is happening and

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think about the reasons why people act in certain ways.

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A little clown falls off the circus train in this wordless picture-book from artist Marla Frazee, and is taken in by an old, gray farmer. The farmer takes the clown-child home, and takes care of him until the train comes chugging across the prairie a second time, and he can be restored to his

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family...

As another online reviewer has noted, Frazee accomplishes quite a bit in The Farmer and the Clown, in the sense that she makes clowns, which can sometimes be read as rather creepy, quite endearing here. Her artwork is lovely, capturing the loneliness of the farmer, his surprise and chagrin at his new charge, and his eventual transformation, as a result of the encounter. The visuals are naturally all-important, in a wordless book such as this, and here they succeed in telling a coherent, and quietly engaging tale. Recommended to anyone looking for wordless picture-books, and to all Marla Frazee fans.

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I don't like clowns in general but the clowns in this book seem benign enough. A quiet, touching story with soft gouache illustrations.

This is a great wordless picture book that I would share with my students in any grade. Through pictures you can interpret that a baby clown falls out of a train and a farmer takes him in for the night. The next day the clowns family comes back for him and he leaves his farmer friend behind.

This book could be used for any grade level because it teaches many different life principles and concepts. The Farmer and the Clown is a wordless picture book about a small clown who falls off of a circus train and lands in a farmer's field. The lonely farmer takes in the clown and treats him with

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compassion and kindness. Eventually the circus train drives through the town again, and the farmer helps the clown reunite with his family. This book should be used in the classroom for making predictions and inferences by looking for and using small details within the story.

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A wordless book by Marla Frazee?? Be still my heart!! I will confess that this woman has never done a doodle I didn't like. I've always thought that her talent really shows in small vignetttes- she can tell a whole story in a facial expression- and that really shows here (even when the expression

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is painted on!). The pacing is wonderful: she varies double-page, full-bleed spreads with single ones, with series of small moments in quick succession. The flap copy says that it's a story about home, but I think it's a story about sadness, both shown and with a happy painted exterior, and how friends can help each other find happiness. The final illustration was such a relief, as I was feeling very sorry for the farmer, and I didn't notice the hat switch until my second read.

Really, the only problem is that Marla Frazee lives in California and we can't be best friends.

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