Review by jjmainor -- The Barnyard Buddies STOP for Peace
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Review by jjmainor -- The Barnyard Buddies STOP for Peace

4 out of 4 stars
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The Barnyard Buddies STOP for Peace is the story of barnyard animals who get angry during a rainstorm because the horse, King, hogs all the space beneath the protective overhang. It is a cute story that doesn’t simply teach conflict resolution, it lets children know that it is okay to feel angry as long as they talk and share their feelings. The artwork is cute and the text is simple enough for the 3-8 age group.
The biggest asset for the book may be the additional material included with the story. Julie Penshorn provides a full lesson plan for teachers to help integrate this book into their classroom. Not only does the plan contain instruction and assorted activities for the targeted age group, it also outlines a program for older children. The author suggests the creation of a mentor program, teaching the older group valuable lessons in public speaking and leadership in preparation for allowing them to read the book to their younger peers. In this way, the younger children see more than a teacher with a lesson, they see a role model. They get to see other children like them, but a little older, living the lessons this book teaches.
In addition to the lesson plans, there is a link to the author’s website where parents and teachers can find bonus activities such as a coloring page and a sample of the song, the song sheet for which is included in the back of the book. The one downside is that the author requires your email address for the bonus material. I doubt most people will have a problem, and the author promises not to share it, however with data collection and privacy concerns arising from social media sites lately, this could make some parents uneasy. Since this is a review of the book, I do not hold that against the book. I only mention it for those looking to make use of the extra resources.
The Barnyard Buddies STOP for Peace is an excellent book for both teachers and parents of young children. It seems in this day and age, everyone is angry and no one wants to listen to anyone else. The lessons this book teaches are very important to share with children in order to instill empathy for others and their opinions without sacrificing their own feelings. In fact a lot of adults could learn from the Barnyard Buddies.
Because I took no issue with the book, and because it included a lot of extra material elevating it above the status of an ordinary children’s book, I give it a rating of 4 out of 4 stars.
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The Barnyard Buddies STOP for Peace
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