Saving Strawberry Farm

This was a wonderful book that all children should read or have read to them. I like how it shows the whole community working together to help do something good for someone else. This is something we don’t see enough of. People that lived during the Great Depression struggle so bad that they needed to rely on others in the community and it helped everyone come together. ( )

A great book to help readers understand quotations and dialogue. The book shows dialogue between to characters or dialogue where the narrator is simply calling out his neighbors. Also, it's a good example of the author's note and the acknowledgment components of historical context and giving credit. ( )

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2–This beautifully illustrated picture book is set in a Midwestern town in 1933. Although times are hard, Mom sends young Davey to Mr. Russell's store to buy ice to make lemonade for a special Fourth of July treat. While there, he helps Miss Elsie carry a bag to her truck and learns that the kind woman is going to lose her farm to the bank. When Mr. Russell explains the idea of a penny auction, Davey keeps his coin instead of spending it on candy. On the way home, he shows it to the townspeople and encourages them to attend the auction. Later that day, he starts the bidding by yelling, One penny for Strawberry Farm! Other folks chime in, raising the amount by nickels and dimes instead of dollars, until Miss Elsie makes the final bid and is able to buy back her property. Isadora uses colored pencils to create the soft-edged, full-page illustrations. Vivid hues depict the red-hot sun and the hazy heat of July, as well as the smiling faces of Miss Elsie's helpful neighbors. Hopkinson's straightforward text is framed in orange and pale yellow. A brief author's note provides factual background about the Great Depression, the drought that devastated the land, and the role of the general store, making this story an excellent introduction to this time period.–Kristine M. Casper, Huntington Public Library, NY
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