Down on the Funny Farm
Written by P. E. King and
Illustrated by Alasair Graham
Paint Picture and Story
Designed by Anna Bush
There was a
young farmer who did not have a farm. He ran across an old man
pitching hay with a kitchen fork instead of a pitchfork. The
young farmer ended up buying the old man's farm for one dollar.
The farm came with a horse, a rooster, a dog, a chicken, a pig, and a
cat besides the barn and the house.
While the young farmer was checking out his new farm he realized
something very strange. All the animals did not act like
themselves. The cat tried to pull the wagon like a horse,
the horse crowed on the barn roof like a rooster, the rooster was
burying bones like a dog, the dog was stitting on eggs like a chicken,
the chicken rolled in the mud like a pig, and the pig chased mice
in the house like a cat.
So the young farmer knew he had his work cut out for him. He
started teaching all the animals to do their right job. The animals
caught on quick and he was soon a happy farmer, but he was
One day a woman drove up to the farm. The young farmer and the woman
fell in love and got married. The woman had one request, for her
father who had no home to come live with them. The young farmer
said okay, but what he did not know is that the woman's father is the
old man he bought the farm from. As soon as the animals saw the
old man they went back to their old routine.
1. How would you have reacted if you had bought this funny farm?
2. Do you think they lived happily ever after? Why or Why not?