Dooby Dooby Moo

The theme of musical animals has a long history from Grimms' Brementown Musicians to Jarrett J. Krosoczka's Punk Farm (check out the Punk Farm website; the music is actually pretty good).

Doreen Cronin creates a winner with Dooby Dooby Moo, illustrated by Betsy Lewin. The characters you first met in Click Clack Moo are here. Farmer Brown keeps a close eye and ear on the animals in his farm, especially that crafty Duck. When he finds an ad cut out of his morning paper, he knows trouble is coming.

The ad is for a talent show at the county fair. First prize is a used trampoline. Though farmer Brown only hears snoring inside the barn, when the coast is clear, cows, sheep, and pigs practice their versions of old favorites. The cows sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star": "Dooby, dooby, dooby moo. Dooby moo, moo, moo, moo, moo." The sheep rehearse "Home on the Range". And the pigs do an interpretive dance.

Farmer Brown doesn't trust the animals on the farm by themselves (remember Giggle, Giggle Quack?), so he packs them in the truck when he goes to the county fair (convenient, no?). He leaves the critters snoring in the truck.

The cows do well. The sheep do even better. But the pigs are fast asleep. Duck steps up and does "Born to be Wild" - "Quack, quack, quack, quuuaaaaaackk!"

Do they win? Well, that when Farmer Brown listens outside the barn door he hears, "Dooby, dooby BOING! Fa la, la, la BOING! Whacka, whacka BOING!"

As always with Cronin, there are hilarious details such as footnotes and disclaimers, mice judging the rehearsals, and Farmer Brown wearing a disquise. If you're building a collection of the books in this series like we are, don't forget this one. You can have so much fun belting out the tunes.