The Farmer’s Pyjamas
Ruth Paul
The Farmer’s Pyjamas
Ruth Paul (2026)
Walker Books
Picture book
34 pages, hardback
ISBN 978 1 760659 91 2
‘Before the farmer’s day is done,
she does her chores, one by one.’
Young readers (and young people being read to) take a gleeful
delight in picture books where things go wrong. They also enjoy spotting clever
details in pictures. The Farmer’s Pyjamas is a winner both ways. Ruth Paul
has a great story and uses words and pictures with admirable skill to tell it in
the best possible way.
‘She milks the cow, counts the sheep.
The catalogue of animals the farmer cares for is well done,
from llamas to hens, horse to cat. At night, the farmer brushes her teeth and heads
for bed, after her hard day’s work. Then disaster strikes. Her pyjamas are
missing! Readers have already seen the farmer’s favourite pyjamas on the cover and
half-title page, a snazzy navy-blue pair with a career-appropriate pattern of sheep. [The fabric’s pattern of sheep is repeated on
the endpapers for those planning to dress up for their next Favourite Characters
contest.]
Without her favourite pyjamas, the farmer can’t get to
sleep, so she becomes increasingly muddled as she yawns her way through her usual
chores.
‘She milks the horse, stables the cow,
This is fun for the reader but not for the animals, who start
their own search for the missing nightwear, with the hens scratching in the garden
and the llamas inspecting the strawberry patch. It is the dog who uses his nose
and solves the mystery.
The conclusion – no spoilers – is simultaneously amusing,
charming and … just perfect.
Ruth Paul’s illustrations for her story are appealing and
witty. Her large-eyed animals are a delight, especially the blue cow (a nod to
Marc Chagall) and the sneezing-and-spitting llama. Perhaps her funniest illustration
shows a band of boisterous piglets roosting on the henhouse perches.
23 June 2026
[Review 3848]
