DADDY PLAYED MUSIC FOR THE COWS

First, hearsay (of what she was like as a baby), and then the narrator's remembrances of a childhood on the farm comprise the pages of this memoir, in which words and art paint a loving portrait of the bond between a father and a daughter. Weidt's first book captures the textures of growing up on a farm: a baby rattling away in a playpen while her father takes care of the cows; a toddler in a stroller in the middle of the barn; a youngster hanging off a ladder or tumbling down haystacks. In the background, always, are the yodels, shouts, and tunes of the radio her father plays for the cows. The language is wonderfully simple and infused with the rhythm of country music. The illustrations, with realistic touches amidst the impressionistic brushstrokes, have the hazy look of treasured snapshots. Lovely. (Picture book. 4+)