Escape from Baxters' Barn by Rebecca Bond

MHL 2018-19 List

Genre: Animal Story

Grade Level: 2-5

Reading Level: 5.4 (4 points) 256 pages

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers (July 7, 2015)

My Rating: 3 out of 4

Readability: Great Illustrations to support text and a classic read.

MHL Division: Division 1

Summary: 

When Burdock, a young barn cat, sneaks into the house to get warm, he hears the farmer, Dewey Baxter, has terrible plans that will endanger all the animals. Burdock leads them in an attempt to escape before it is too late.

This book has beautiful illustrations by the author and reminds you of the writing of Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.  The animals in this story find out that they are in danger and work together to figure out a way to save themselves. They all use their abilities to come up with a solution. The final solution provides a very satisfying conclusion. 

I rated this book a 3 because I had a tendency to put it down or even doze off as I read it. I think it would be a fun book for younger readers with good reading abilities. It also should be a great read aloud and read alike book for fans of Charlotte's Web.