Sheep = stupid farm animals

Anna has a pair of books called Sheep in a Jeep and Sheep Out to Eat which just crack me up. The sheep in these books are completely and utterly clueless. In Sheep in a Jeep, they completely trash a jeep and in Sheep Out to Eat, they trash a tea shop because they add pepper to food and start sneezing. Various calamity ensues in each book, but Anna and I think that it's hilarious. Maybe we're just easily amused, but this is how kids books should be done.

The reason they're so great is because sheep truly are the stupidest of all the farm animals. Despite what the BBC might say on the subject, my wife is a born and bred Iowa farm girl and her word is pretty much law on all things agrarian around our house. And she says sheep are definitely deficient on smarts. Our friends Barb and Chip have a bunch of sheep at their farm and every time I've seen them, they're just standing around in the pen braying (or whatever it is that sheep do) waiting to be fed. And as far as I'm concerned, any farm animal that would live up to the lemming myth (see this article) qualifies for all time stupidest farm animal.

So we got another one of the sheep books when we were at the library the other day--this time Sheep Trick or Treat. Not nearly as good. The sheep have gotten smarter.

Smart sheep do not good humor make.