We have just celebrated the harvest season. Some of us (not me, I can assure you) made jams and jellies, preserves and fruit leather. Many of us sat down to a Thanksgiving dinner. I’m sure that most of us picked up fresh produce at the store and enjoyed the crisp ripeness of apples and the smell of baking pumpkin. It’s with this in mind that I bring you two books about the farm and the harvest.
The first is “Bumpety Bump!” by Pat Hutchins. In this book we read about a little boy who loves to go out to his grandfather’s farm and help him with the crops. They dig up potatoes, onions and carrots. They pick beans, tomatoes and lettuce. Grandpa pushes the little boy from place to place in a wheelbarrow that bumps along the ground, and a red hen that lives on the farm follows them everywhere, watching with curiosity. Finally the hen goes into the henhouse and the little boy follows, to find that the hen has laid an egg, her own brand of farm work. I liked this book because of the cute illustrations and the warm relationship between the grandfather and the boy.
The other book is “Farmer’s Market” by Paul Brett Johnson. A girl named Laura (who looks quite a bit like my daughter did at that age) lives on a farm with her family. During the summer, they get up early every Saturday morning and load up the truck with vegetables they all helped to grow. Then they drive to the farmer’s market to sell their crops.
They set up their tables and chairs quickly so they can be ready when the customers start to come. If Laura works hard all morning, she can go find her friend Betsy, whose mother runs the flower stall, and they can play together, but first she has a job to do.
As the customers come, Laura is kept busy pulling out new produce until her mother says she can go play. Together, she and Betsy go exploring, eat ice cream, and visit vendors in the other stalls. At the end of the day, Laura goes home tired, but happy.
This book paints a picture of family unity and togetherness as Laura learns how to work hard alongside her parents and brother. I found this book to be very uplifting, especially when there are times when children feel that their simple chores are too hard to do. Go send them to live on a farm for a while! Then they’ll see how good they really have it!
(“Bumpety Bump” was published in 2006 by Greenwillow Books and was illustrated by the author. “Farmer’s Market” was published in 1997 by Orchard Books and was also illustrated by the author.)
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