The Year at Maple Hill Farm by Alice and Martin Provenson combines two especially appealing themes for young children: farm animals and the rhythm of the calendar year. Their distinctive illustration style, gentle humor, and affectionate attention to animal personalities make this a wonderful book for cozy homeschool reading.

This is the kind of picture book children can enjoy at several different levels. Younger children will notice the animals and funny details, while older children can begin to understand seasons, months, animal behavior, farm work, and the way life changes throughout the year.

Book Snapshot

Authors: Alice Provensen and Martin Provensen

Illustrators: Alice Provensen and Martin Provensen

Ages: 4–8

Themes: farm life, animals, seasons, months, calendar year, nature, weather, humor

Best For: farm studies, calendar learning, seasonal read-alouds, nature study, preschool and early elementary homeschool lessons

About the Book

The Year at Maple Hill Farm takes children through a full year on a New York farm. Month by month, the Provensens show how the farm changes with the seasons and how the animals respond to weather, food, work, and each other.

The book introduces children to a variety of farm animals, including cows, horses, pigs, chickens, geese, sheep, cats, and dogs. Each animal has its own place on the farm, and the text gives children a lighthearted look at their habits, relationships, and sometimes amusing personalities.

Because the farm is located in New York, the book includes four distinct seasons. Children see snow, mud, spring growth, summer warmth, autumn harvest, and the return of winter. It is a lovely way to help children connect months of the year with the visible changes in nature.

Why This Book Works for Homeschooling

The Year at Maple Hill Farm works beautifully as a simple homeschool picture book study because it touches on several useful early learning topics without feeling like a lesson. It is rich enough to revisit throughout the year, especially at the beginning of a new season or month.

This book is especially useful for:

• Calendar Learning: reviewing the months of the year and noticing seasonal changes
• Science: learning about farm animals, weather, food, and animal behavior
• Nature Study: observing how plants, animals, and daily work change through the seasons
• Language Arts: practicing narration, vocabulary, copywork, and simple descriptive writing
• Art Appreciation: studying the Provensens’ distinctive style, humor, patterns, and expressive animals
• Family Culture: talking about work, responsibility, provision, and the ordered rhythms of ordinary life

Picture Book Activities

Use these simple ideas to turn The Year at Maple Hill Farm into an easy farm and seasons picture book study. Choose one or two activities that fit your child’s age and your homeschool day.

• Calendar Connection: Read one month from the book at the beginning of each month. Talk about what is similar or different where you live.
• Farm Animal Vocabulary: Make a list of the animals in the book. Younger children can draw each animal, while older children can write one fact or observation about each one.
• Free Counting Practice: Use the Pig Counting Puzzle Free Printable for Numbers 1–10 for younger children who are working on early number recognition.
• More Counting Practice: Add the Rooster Counting Puzzle Free Printable for Numbers 11–20 for children ready to practice the teen numbers.
• Writing & Notebooking: Use the Farm Notebooking Pages for narration, animal reports, seasonal observations, or a simple “My Favorite Farm Animal” writing assignment.
• Handwriting & Copywork: Use Farm Copywork: Print and Cursive for farm-themed handwriting practice, or have your child copy a favorite sentence from the book.
• Morning Time: Add the Farm Fun Fact Cards to your morning basket for quick, interesting facts about farm life and animals.
• Season Chart: Divide a piece of paper into four sections labeled spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Have your child draw something from Maple Hill Farm in each season.
• Animal Behavior: Choose one animal from the book and talk about what it eats, where it sleeps, what work it might do, and how it behaves around other animals.
• Art Study: Look closely at the illustrations. Ask your child to find funny expressions, repeated patterns, tiny details, and signs of each season.
• Field Trip: Visit a farm, petting zoo, farmers market, or local orchard if one is available. Talk about how real farms are similar to or different from Maple Hill Farm.

Discussion Questions

• Which animal at Maple Hill Farm was your favorite? Why?
• How does the farm change from winter to spring?
• What jobs need to be done on a farm throughout the year?
• Which month in the book looked the most interesting to you?
• How do the animals interact with each other?
• What details in the illustrations made you smile?
• How is farm life different from life in a town or city?
• What does this book show us about the order and beauty of the seasons?

Final Recommendation

The Year at Maple Hill Farm is a lovely picture book for families who enjoy animals, seasons, nature, and gentle humor. It is especially useful for preschool and early elementary children because it gives them so many concrete things to notice and discuss.

If you are building a cozy picture book collection for your homeschool, this one is well worth including. It can be read straight through, enjoyed month by month, or used as the spine for a simple farm and seasons study with very little preparation.