The Year at Maple Hill Farm

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2010

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THE YEAR AT MAPLE HILL FARM

Alice and Martini Proveoseim

A JONATHAN CAPE BOOK

ATHENEUM

1978

NEW YORK

For Dinah

A

Children's Choice

Book Club

Copyright© 1978 by Alice and Marl All rights reserved

Printed in the United Statesol Vmi ISBN: 0-590-75784-9

i

Edition

THE YE This

book about farm animals,

a

is

And what happens during one The The The The

year

is

year on a farm.

divided into twelve months,

months are divided weeks into days,

into weeks,

days into minutes, a farm something

And on

is

happening every minute.

Animals don't know there is such a thing as a year, But they do know about seasons. Animals know when the cold will come, And they grow heavy overcoats.

They know when

And

When And

it is

summer,

they shed them. it is

hot, they look for shade,

in winter,

they look for shelter.

People have names for what they

call

the months of the year.

We

could start with any month as far as the animals are concerned,

But

it is

usual to begin with January.

January

Cows

is

a winter

stay in the barnyard

many

month. The ground

when

the ground

is

is

frozen. So

covered with snow,

do the chickens,

eggs are laid in January. The days are too short and dark. The horses don't mind the cold. Neither do the sheep with their heavy winter coats.

but not

us

a

All the farm animals stay close to the barn where they are fed. There is hay and grain to eat. Even the wild deer come nearer the farm, hoping to find a little salt or a windfall apple under the snow.

February follows Janoary The forest pood

The children

are having a skating party.

the fire and toast their toes and noses. all

winter. You'd think their bare feet

When

is

they are cold, they

frozen

sit

The geese play in the icy water would freeze but they never do.

by

SO.IK

soy place

The noisy rooks

are having a circus.

They

toss

of bare branches. Rooks like winter. Under the frozen ground, the water rat

is

napping.

and tumble on the trapezes ice, in a

tunnel in the

He won't be up

until spring.

spring

is

comiog. There are signs of s

The pony has given birth to a foal. She loves him and looks after him.

The milk cow has a new calf. She loves him and gives him her

The good grey barn

The nanny goat has

litter

cat has her

of kittens in the hay rack.

The mother ewe has two new lambs.

a

new

milk.

kid, too.

mothers are proud and protective and full of love. All the animal

windy amid rainy but when the §00 does shine, brightly and the s are longer. There are signs of si March

is

A

The robins

are back and are busy building their nests.

The geese are cranky. They must have laid an

The

ice

wild duck

is

The

in

the marsh marigolds.

The meadow mice

are

out looking around.

egg.

rooster

it

s

wakes everyone

earlier in the

morning.

The mad March hare hurrying

on the pond has melted and there are pussy willows. The horses have found

grass under the last patches of snow. see that often

if

the ground

is

frozen.

They

lie

down

is

in all directions.

in the pale sunshine.

You don't

a little

5s

a spool

The good old brown hen has been busy sitting on eggs for twenty-one days. Now her baby chicks are hatching. It must be hard to pick your way out of an egg, but the chicks are pretty and fluffy in no time.

:ggs do the

The robins

bam,

am

the

fields, in

are already hatching

eggs in their business-like way.

This big bird

is

laying her egg in a

little

bird's nest.

Here

is

She must be cuckoo.

a basket of

coloured eggs

among the flowers. No one has found it

yet.

the trees, moder the eaves, everywhere.

This

silly

goose has

laid

an egg

in

the middle of nowhere. She must be crazy.

This

little

bird

is

She must wonder

feeding her babies.

why

one baby

Dogs steal eggs when they can them and carry them away. Perhaps dogs make

nests, too.

is

find

so bi£

ay days are

warm. The aonmals are oocomfortable with their heavy

veryone gets a haircut one way or another. The woolly sheep are shorn.

The black sheep-dog She

is

shorn

at the

will scarcely be recognizable

grow back

in time for

same time -not

without her long

a

very fancy clip. but they will

curls,

winter and she will look herself again.

The rooster won't be himself until he can parade

his fine tail feathers again.

Even though it's cool and comfortable, it must be embarrassing to lose all your clothes all at once. Cats don't need clipping. They shed their coats on other people's clothes and furniture.

Jyoe

is

the

ifirst

month of suiminnier. The fanm pood

Is

Horses eat grass. Geese eat grass. Cows and sheep and goats eat grass. Chickens eat grass, but that's not the reason the chickens are out in the pasture — they are chasing insects. The horses stir up insects with their big feet. Chickens love insects. too,

The pasture

The mother duck

is gmeeini.

is out on the pond. She is teaching her ducklings to swim. Someone else out today, too. The good grey cat is teaching her kittens to hunt. That bird is safe on his branch, but those squirrels had better watch out — cats don't eat grass or insects. is

In

June there are enough insects to go around. fields are hopping with insects -grasshoppers and leaf-hoppers and tree-hoppers.

The

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