Cherie Brooks Reilly - Feathered & Furry Friends at the Farm

Feathered
&
Furry
Friends
at the
Farm

by

Cherie Brooks Reilly

Ryan and Katie Kerr

Illustrated by Carol Stavish

Cover Design by Sam Oberdick

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Copyright 2008, 2012 Cherie Brooks Reilly, Ryan and Katie Kerr.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

Illustrated by Carol Stavish

Co-authored by Ryan and Katie Kerr
Cover Design/Artwork by Sam Oberdick

ISBN: 978-1-4669-4095-6 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4669-4094-9 (e)

Trafford rev. 06/19/2012

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North America & international

toll-free: 1 888 232 4444 (USA & Canada)

phone: 250 383 6864 fax: 812 355 4082

Contents

Dedication

Mimi

This book is dedicated to Grandmothers everywhere who love, teach and nurture their grandchildren. I never imagined that Grandmotherhood would be so much fun!

Ryan

This book is dedicated to Grandpa Reilly who works very hard on his farm because he loves it.

Katie

This book is dedicated to the Reilly and Kerr families and to all the animals who live on the farm.

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to professor Carol Stavish for using her vacation time to create such delightful, whimsical drawings. Her illustrations bring our stories to life.

Christina Wiedmann and Sam Oberdick have our heartfelt gratitude for using their computer talents to organize this project.

About This Book

Nestled among the hills along the Ohio River in the Southwestern corner of Pennsylvania is Reillys Summer Seat Farm. The name originated from the Land Grant title because this farm was once part of the Depreciation Lands given to George Washingtons troops for their service in the Revolutionary War.

When Lt. Col Michael Reilly retired from the Marine Corps in 1983, he bought the acreage from his father with the dream of making it into a working farm. Even though farming was on the decline, Mike, with the help of his wife Cherie, and their children Renee, Michael, Kevin and Shawn, managed to create a productive farm and later added a garden center.

Over the years, Summer Seat Farm became synonymous with FUN, because of its pick-your-own crops and exciting Fall Festivals which featured hayrides, pumpkin-picking, and an abundance of exciting autumn activities.

As the Reilly children grew and pursued their own careers in other parts of the country, only daughter Renee remained in the Pittsburgh area. Her children spent many happy hours chasing butterflies, picking berries, and enjoying the freedom of the farm. They welcomed the baby animals that arrived, and found appropriate names for all of them.

The grandchildren, Ryan and Katie Kerr, brought new vitality to Summer Seat Farm. When Ryan suggested that they write stories about the humorous and exciting events that happened at the farm, their grandmother (Mimi) agreed that it would be a wonderful way to preserve those special memories. Ryan (age 13), and Katie (age 11) wrote about some of their favorite animals and used the computer to research facts about other farm friends.Mimi added some remembrances of her own and organized it into a book.

Eight of the stories happened on Reillys Summer Seat Farm. The Goose Twins occurred on the farm in South Dakota where Mimi grew up. The Last Story, Suzy Strawberry , is a fanciful tale about an imaginary strawberry plant that is used to teach children about strawberries and kindness. Mimi tells this story to school children who come to visit the farm.

Ryan, Katie and Mimi hope that you enjoy this book and that it will remind you of the many happy adventures that you once had on your own grandfathers farm.

By Cherie Brooks Reilly
With Ryan & Katie Kerr

Theres a little white duck sitting on the water,
a little white duck doing what he oughter.
He took a bite of a lily pad,
flapped his wings and he said,
Im glad Im a little white duck sitting on the
water. Quack! Quack! Quack!

Childrens song by Walt Whippo

The Day We Taught
The Ducks To Swim

By Cherie Brooks Reilly

Hi, my name is Ryan, and thats my sister, Katie. Shes usually a pest, but sometimes we have fun together like the day we taught the ducks to swim.

Ill tell you about it.

We have a grandmother who lives on a farm. We call her Mimi because Grandma sounds so old.

In the springtime Mimi ordered some baby ducks from the hatchery.

The ducklings came in the mail and the postman smiled when he handed us the quacking box.

We helped our grandmother make a nice nest of straw for the fluffy yellow babies in a pen in the barn.

Mimi put a heat lamp above the pen because the ducklings didnt have a mother to keep them warm.

I put a dish of ground-up corn in the pen, and Katie put in a bowl of water. The little ducks soon stopped quacking and settled down for a nap.

It was fun to watch the baby ducks grow bigger and bigger.

One day when the baby ducks were about two weeks old, Katie said, The poor ducklings have no mother. Who will teach them how to swim?

We felt very sad for them.

Then I had a good idea.

We can teach the ducks to swim! I said.

We ran to get Mimi. She helped us put the ducklings in a box. Katie and I carried the box down to the pond.

Carefully I lifted one baby duck out of the box and set him on the water.

The fluffy duck floated, but he was afraid. He paddled his feet as fast as he could. He went around and around in a circle. He tried to climb out of the pond, but the sides were too high.

Then the duckling stopped paddling and just sat quietly on the water for a minute.

The duckling decided that he liked the water! He began to happily paddle around in the pond, splash, and dive under the water.

One by one Katie and I gently set all of the ducklings on the pond.