Barn At Night Wins Children’s Book Award

“Barn at Night” by Michelle Houts and art by Jen Betton, published by Feeding Minds Press (a project of the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture), has won SILVER in the Picture Book for age 4-8 category of the Moonbeam Books Awards. The Moonbeam Awards celebrate youthful curiosity and discovery through books and reading.

“Barn at Night” follows a father and a daughter as they care for farm animals in two visits to the barn – first, waking early to do the daily work in the pre-dawn hours, and next in a mid-night visit to the barn to help a horse who’s foaling. Written in lyrical poetry, the story shows how farmers feed and care for their animals even in the coldest weather. “Barn at Night” features cows, barn cats, horses, and other farm animals and their babies for fun vocabulary building for young readers – and it ends with the beautiful surprise arrival of a new foal.

Illustrated in glowing watercolors, “Barn at Night” makes a wonderful bedtime story that is great to share as a family. You can watch the book trailer here.

The Moonbeam contest began in 2006 to open up awards in children’s publishing to all types of publishers and genres. By developing a contest that would recognize winners in each of the nuanced categories of children’s publishing, it hoped to bring attention to the under-sung children’s books and their creators who fell between the cracks in larger, more general contests.

You can order a copy of “Barn at Night” anywhere books are sold, or you can find the book and educator guide on the Farm Bureau store site.

You can also view the other Moonbeam award winners here.