Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom

Ag-Related Books for Children and Young Adults

Farm Life

Ada, Alma Flor, Zubizarreta, Rosa, and Simon Silva, Gathering the Sun: An Alphabet in Spanish and English, Lothrop, 1997. (Grades K-3)

Using the Spanish alphabet as a template, Ada has written 27 poems that celebrate both the bounty of the harvest and the Mexican heritage of the farmworkers and their familiesetc. Silva's sun-drenched gouache paintings are robust, with images sculpted in paint. Brimming with respect and pride, the book, with its mythic vision of the migrant farm worker, will add much to any unit on farming or Mexican American heritage.

Artley, Bob, Once Upon a Farm, Pelican, 2000. (Young Adult)

The writer and illustrator grew up on an Iowa farm in the 1930s as the "age of the horse" was giving way to the "age of the tractor." Detailed sketches and color drawings illustrate the work involve - walking through the spring mud from barn to barn carrying a bucket of feed, a birds' eye view of the farmstead, cleaning oat seed with a hand powered fanning mill, planting corn behind a team of horses, milking a cow the old fashioned way, the details of a cream separator, threshers at harvest time and much more. Artley describes the hard work but also the fun. It is a touching book written with love and realism describing a lifestyle that has passed by.

Avi, The Barn, Orchard, 1994. (Grades 4-7)

The schoolmaster says nine-year-old Benjamin is the finest student he's ever seen - fit for more than farming; destined for great things someday. But his father's grave illness brings Ben home,from school and compels him to strive for something great right now - to do the one thing that will please Father so much he'll want to live. But first Ben must convince his older sister and brother to work with him. And together, they succeed in ways they never dreamed possible.

Bial, Raymond, Portrait of a Family Farm, Houghton-Mifflin, 1995. (Grades 3-6)

This volume provides full-color photographs and lots of interesting facts about farms. Featuring 12-year-old Mark and his seven sisters and brothers, the book provides a realistic and touching portrait of life on a family-run dairy farm.

Byars, Betsy, and Doron Ben-Ami, Tornado, 1996. (Grades 3-5)

When a tornado is sighted, a boy's family rushes to the storm cellar. Anxious about the father, who's still in the cornfield, they listen to the storm overhead and to the stories related by their farmhand, Pete, about Tornado, the dog he knew and loved as a boy. Framed by the progress of the current twister, the five interior chapters are Tornado tales. The first concerns a storm that blew the dog and his doghouse into Pete's life; another tells of Tornado's dealings with a cat; yet another relates the dog's ability to do a card trick. One full-page, shaded pencil drawing appears in each chapter. The episodes are fairly short and the print large. The handsome illustrations by Doron Ben-Ami give the volume a more distinguished, less juvenile look than the typical chapter book and convey the story's drama, warmth, and occasional humor.

Chitwood, Suzanne Tanner, Wake Up, Big Barn, Cartwheel, 2002. (Grades preK-3)

A busy barn comes to life through a series of invigorating torn-paper collages. "Wake up, Big Barn!" A large red rooster, set against an expanse of white, cock-a-doodle-doos across a two-page spread. Other animals are introduced: the mule hee-haws; the cow moos; the pigs, enjoying a mud bath, oink. Other farm elements are noisy, too - the tractor chugs, and the cherries ping as they fall to the ground. The book follows activities on the farm through the day.

Coats, Mary Jane, The Almond Orchard, Simon and Schuster, 1991. Grades PreK-2

Narrating in her grandmother's voice, Coats describes raising almonds in California at the turn of the century, when harvesting was handwork done by the family with some neighbors' help and the crop was dried in the sun; the year's cycle is completed with winter pruning and the sweet spring bloom. The narrative continues to the present, with expanded acreage and modern equipment.

Denslow, Sharon Phillips, and Lynne Rae Perkins, Georgie Lee, Greenwillow, 2002 (Grades 3-6)

Georgie Lee is Grandma's cow, a smart cow, surprising J. D. with how cleverly she gets rid of pesky flies. She's good at escaping her pasture, ending up on Grandma's porch eating ears of fresh corn out of a bowl. And she's the ghost that startles Grandma and J.D. as they explore an abandoned house. But best of all, she's the reason elderly neighbor Effie is saved after a fall leaves her stranded in a field.

Elliott, David, and Holly Meade, On the Farm, Candlewick, 2008.

From the bull to the barn cat to the wild bunny, the farmyard bustles with life. The rooster crows, the rams clash, the bees buzz, and over there in the garden, a snake — silent and alone — winds and watches. David Elliott’s graceful, simple verse and Holly Meade’s exquisite woodcut and watercolor illustrations capture a world that is at once timeless yet disappearing from view — the world of the family farm.

Friedrich, Elizabeth, and Michael Garland, Leah's Pony, Boyds Mills, 1996. (Grades 3-5)

Amid the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, Leah's father is faced with the loss of the family farm and puts his farm and equipment up for auction, but Leah comes up with the money by selling her beloved pony.

Geisert, Bonnie, Haystack, Houghton Mifflin, 2003. (Grades K-3)

Beginning with details about mowing, drying and tromping hay, the narrative moves on to explain the haystack's important purposes: to provide food, and a shelter from the wind, for cows during the winter; during warmer weather, to serve as a resting and feeding place for pigs. In return, the animals' manure is used as fertilizer for the next year's hay, thus continuing the cycle.

Griffin, Peni, The Treasure Bird, McElderry, 1992. (Grades 4-7)

A talking parrot and the rumor of buried treasure give hope to ten-year-old Jessy and her stepbrother Matt that they can save the Texas farm they have inherited from Great-Uncle Matthew.

Hall, Donald, The Milkman's Boy, Walker. (Grades preK-3)

Paul Graves is coming of age during a time when horses and carriages shared roads with Model Ts, and new technology changed old ways of doing things. His father calls the new invention of pasteurization nothing but a fad . . . until one day a fever strikes Paul's sister, and his family learns a hard lesson about the need to balance change and tradition.

Hesse, Karen, Out of the Dust, Scholastic, 1998. (Young Adult)

A poem cycle that reads as a novel, "Out of the Dust" tells the story of Billie Jo, a girl who struggles to help her family survive the dustbowl years of the Depression. Fighting against the elements on her Oklahoma farm, Billie Jo takes on even more responsibilities when her mother dies in a tragic accident.

Hill, Lee Sullivan, Farms Feed the World, Carolrhoda, 1997. (K-3)

A simple introduction to the beauty and variety of farms from a wheat field in Montana to the harvesting of seaweed from the ocean.

Kinsey-Warnock, Natalie, A Farm of Her Own, Dutton, 2001 (Grades K-3)

Ten-year-old city-dweller Emma spends a summer with Aunt Ada and Uncle Will at Sunnyside Farm. Years later, Emma raises her own family at the same farm.

Lester, Alison, My Farm, Houghton-Mifflin, 1994. (Grades K-3)

Recollections of life on an Australian farm, with summer days filled with driving cattle, picking blackberries and taking a swim. Australian autumn brings new calves, rainstorms and mushrooms after a winter spent doing chores. Springtime is spent baling hay. Great water color illustrations and matter of fact details include butchering of animals as just another event of the farm year.

McMullan, Margaret, How I Found the Strong, Houghton Mifflin, 2005. (Grades 6-12)

Ten-year-old Frank Russell is left to run his family's small farm when his father and brother go off to fight in the Civil War.

Peterson, Cris, Century Farm: One Hundred Years on a Family Farm, Boyd's Mills, 1999. (PreK-2)

A look at a Wisconsin dairy farm owned by the same family for four generations. The current owner tells the story and weaves family history into the descriptions of early day operations. While the author details the many changes that have taken place in the past century, readers are also reminded that many things remain the same. Vintage sepia photos of the farm and Peterson's grandparents as well as good-quality, full-color contemporary photos enhance the text. Interesting captions add even more information.

Porter, Tracey, Treasures in the Dust, Harper Trophy, 1997.

Annie May Weightman and Violet Cobble are best friends and neighbors. They live in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, during the Great Depression. This is their story, told in two voices. Annie is happiest on the ground, sifting through the dust for traces of the past. But Violet is a dreamer always playing make believe to escape, to fly away from the dusty land. In this beautifully crafted novel, poet Tracey Porter joins together two unique voices to tell a larger story of America, its hopes and dreams, during a time when thousands fled their prairie homes in search of work, food, and shelter.

Provensen, Alice, and Martin Provensen, The Year at Maple Hill Farm, Sagebrush, 2001. (K-3)

In January, the cows stay in the barnyard, and the chickens don't lay many eggs. By March, you can tell spring is coming: the barn is filled with baby animals. Month by month, the animals at Maple Hill Farm sense the changing seasons and respond to the changes.

Ray, Deborah Kogan, Lily's Garden, Roaring Brook, 2002. (K-2)

After her grandparents move from Maine to California, they send Lily a box of oranges. From February's maple syrup, March's pea planting, and April's daffodils to fall harvest and December's tree hunt, the child goes through the seasons on the farm, thinking about the activities she used to share with them. Finally, the Christmas tree is decorated with the help of her grandparents, who are back for the holidays. Each spread includes a box with relevant information, such as how to make syrup, pumpkin lore, and recipes for blueberry pancakes and zucchini bread.

Schomp, Virginia, If You Were a . . . Farmer, Benchmark, 2001, (Grades K-3)

Find out what a farmer's life is like. Colorful pictures and easy text help paint a picture farming and ranching life.

Taylor, Mildred D., Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Puffin, 1997. (Grades 4-7)

Cassie's family faces a real challenge: to hold on to land in the South during the Depression. Her father works away from home and her mother works and runs the family farm. Lynne Thigpen dramatizes this excellent classic story of a black family's struggles to remain independent and proud against all obstacles.

Tolan, Stephanie, Surviving the Applewhites, HarperCollins, 2002 (Grades 5-8).

Jake Semple, 13, has been expelled from a long line of schools before coming to live in rural North Carolina with the eccentric Applewhite clan. Jake is pushed into life on the Applewhite farm, Wit's End, full of creative types, goats, and manic energy.