Hey, That's My Hay

There's an interesting nostalgic undercurrent running throughout this charming children's video, a yearning for the halcyon summer days and hard work that kept farm families together for generations. With Geraldine the live-action "queen" cow as guide, viewers get a tour of a working farm and learn the step-by-step process of making hay. Geraldine explains that she's got four stomachs and when she's hungry, she's hoooongry; she needs to eat hay all year round, even when snow and ice cover the ground. The program shows farmers plowing (filmmaker Lyn DesMarais cleverly contrasts a two-horse team pulling a plow with a 90 hp tractor doing the same work--just a whole lot faster), a farm hand shoeing a horse and a humorous segment on bailing machines (catching bails to the tune of "Pop Goes the Weasel"). Nicely filmed, well paced and filled with pleasant tidbits about an American way of life which has been pretty much trampled under the (90 hp) wheels of progress. Recommended for general children's collections. Aud: E, I, P. (N. Plympton)