Hey, Hey, Hay!: A Tale of Bales and the Machines That Make Them

K-Gr 2—Mihaly has penned an ode to the summertime harvest of hay in this terse picture book. The author energetically portrays the rural tradition of baling hay with bouncing verse and rhyming phrases. The child in the story expresses her tale "of storing summer in a bale." The imagery of the fresh smell of hay "like summer sun" takes the narrator back from winter to the baling season. Framed by seasons and organized by the types of machinery used, this tale explains the hay-baling process from start to finish. Cepeda's warm paintings convey the experience of this element of agricultural life with the palate and tone of a waning summer. A glossary of terms is included to explain the specific vocabulary, such as tedder and windrows. Also included in the back matter is a recipe for making switchel, a customary drink made with apple cider vinegar and maple syrup. The book concludes with its titular pun "hay hay hey!" VERDICT A simple lyrical picture book celebrating one aspect of agricultural communities.—Jamie Jensen, Wayne Cox Elementary School, Roanoke, TX

This nostalgic, rhyming ode to baling hay is narrated by a girl whose broad grin makes clear her love for farm life. As she feeds a horse in winter, she recounts "the tale/ of storing summer in a bale./ Every June, when grass turns green, / our hayfield makes a pretty scene." In Cepeda's sophisticated art, the girl trades her barn coat for overalls and details how she and her mother mow with a red tractor and "Run the tedder through/ to fluff the grass and dry the dew." After a break to let the hay dry, they roll out their blue baler and then store the bales in the barn. Tool and truck enthusiasts will enjoy the descriptive content (Mihaly includes an end list of "haymaking words"). Cepeda uses thick painterly layers to capture the beauty and brilliance of summer fields and changing skies. Ages 4-8. (Aug.)