Farley the Ferret of Farkleberry Farm

Patricia Derrick
Animalations (2007)
ISBN 9781933818122
Reviewed by Stephanie, Parish (age 3), and Isaac (age 1) Rollins for Reader Views (8/07)


Farley is a ferret who lives with Farmer Finley and other farms animals.  He goes to the fair with Farmer Finley every year to share boysenberry jam with the children.  Then a drought hits the area, wiping out the boysenberry crop.  Farley and the local children tried to come up with a solution to this problem.  They basically did a rain dance in the boysenberry patch. 

The boysenberry crop was saved.  The children were able to eat Farmer Finley’s jam and bread at the fair.  Was it a miracle?  No one knows. 

Parish wants to give the kids a wipe to get the jelly off their faces.  She thinks that they are probably sticky.  Isaac liked the pictures of the farm animals.  The cover is painted in browns to depict the drought, but it is not attractive to kids who typically like vivid colors.  Toward the end of the book, when the rain comes, the colors get brighter. 

There is a CD that goes with “Farley the Ferret of Farkleberry Farm.”  It retells the story with music.  There are children laughing in the background.  Parish and Isaac danced to it.

“Did you like that story?”
“HMMMMM….Yes.”

“Do you think the jam was good?”
“Yes.  Ma makes jam.”

“Yes.  She makes really good jam.  Do you think the dancing caused the rain?”
She is too busy dancing with Isaac to pay attention to me. 

“Oh, Parish……Do you want to keep this or give it away?”
“I want to keep it.”

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