Chris Jackson’s second animal fable about China Plate Farm is quite as delightful as his first one, Edmund and Hillary. Once again, Jackson uses farmyard animals to tell a story that says more about human than animal behaviour. The young pig, Edmund, is disconcerted to find that all attention in the barnyard is focused upon the arrival of a new baby calf rather than upon his own activities and accomplishments. Like many a young child whose nose is put out of joint by the coming of a baby, Edmund tries vainly to redirect attention to himself. Eventually his friend Hillary the hen finds a way to give Edmund an important role in the celebration of the new calf.

More interesting than babies, in Edmund’s view, are names and the reasons behind them. Naturally so, as his barnyard rejoices in cows with names like Early-morning-clouds, Steeple-above-the-trees, and Full-line-of-washing. Hillary, Edmund’s mentor in this story, explains that the cows are named for their markings – a comment that not only enlightens Edmund and leads to his triumphal naming of the new calf, but tips off the reader to pay attention to what is happening in the pictures. While not so aggressively postmodern as the deconstructed illustrations of some recent picture books, Edmund for Short has fun with the relationship between words and shapes, the forms we see in the world around us, and the meanings we give them. The attentive reader recognizes, as Edmund does, patterns echoing back and forth between the animals and their surroundings. A sheep-shaped hedge recalls the work of Anthony Browne, but Jackson’s world is lighter, more cheerful and humorous than Browne’s. His bright pastels, smiling sun, and supportive animal friends make China Plate Farm an appealing, comfortable place for young readers to explore the ways in which we humans make relationships with the world and with each other. The verbal and visual humour of Jackson’s book is always directed toward children, not the knowing adult, and details such as the exuberant cows on the endpapers invite us all to participate in the pleasures of seeing and naming the patterns around us.