Kirkus
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A day at the fair proves fruitful. Driscoll’s early-reader text follows a child narrator who visits a state fair with Dad. Both characters are pale-skinned with dark-blond hair, but other farmers and fair attendees are diverse in terms of race, ability, and size. One reason Dad and the youngster are here is so they can enter the child’s tomato in “The Little Farmers Tomato Contest.” After dropping the tomato off, they explore different areas of the fair, learning about a wide range of crops and animals in the exhibitions. Throughout, illustrations vary in size and placement; text is often set in empty space within or beside pictures to aid tracking, and pictorial cues support decoding. On some spreads with more challenging words (“A llama farmer invites us to watch a fashion show. All the clothes are made from llama wool!”), new readers may need more support than is offered by the picture, however. Young people will enjoy learning about the various roles farmers play, from raising chickens to growing apples. The story comes full circle at book’s end when the child’s tomato wins first prize, prompting the youngster to say, not “I want to be a farmer,” as the title states, but “I am a farmer. And a good one too!” A solid pick for growing readers.(Early reader. 5-7) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.