Our Farm: Four Seasons with Five Kids on One Family's Farm
Starred Review. Grade 3–7—Through this photographic journal, readers are invited to share one year on an Ohio farm, complete with children, animals, and enough work, adventure, and fun to keep everyone busy. Keeping his commentary to a minimum, Rosen records conversations and comments made mostly by the young Bennetts. Their voices are strong and wise, revealing knowledge about life, death, hunting, reproduction, economics, and the importance of community and family. "If a cow dies, Dad scoops it up with a skid steer bucket and carries it over to the woods, far from the house, because it stinks for a while," 10-year-old Cayne observes matter-of-factly. "We always have a fort up in the hayloft, but…the cows eventually eat the whole fort" (Grey, age 8). "It [corralling cows] can be dangerous…" Chase (15) explains, "…but cows prefer to kick to the side; you're usually safe so long as you're straight behind them." Sensitive to the fact that some people might consider them "a bunch of farm hicks," Chase points out that his school "has scored among the top Ohio schools in the proficiency tests." More comprehensive than Raymond Bial'sPortrait of a Farm Family(Houghton, 1995), this engaging book is an unsentimental, appreciative look into the world of one farm family. It's packed with information and plenty of interesting photographs. Children will love it.—Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WICopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.