I've read many of Lane Smith's books, they always bring a smile. He is an author with an incredible sense of humor.

The family consists of Mr. Hocky, Mrs. Hocky, a Baby Hocky, Henry and Holly Hocky and then Newton the dog.
The caractures of the Hocky family immediately brought a smile as the Hocky family moves out of the city and into the counry via a big yellow truck as we learn the new house is actually an OLD house where if it rains outside, it surely can and will rain inside.

We learn the same words in the city have a much different meaning in the country wherein a rattle can be for a baby, or might be a rattle snake in the country, and city words for such as milk represent a carton purchased at the store, and in the country milk is obtained by the actual cow.

In the city, you awaken by an alarm clock, in the country it is the rooster's loud 5:30 a.m. loud cock-a doodle-dooooo.
The neighbor in the country is a very few man with a pitchfork who happens to own many animals.
Even the leaves in the city do not fly with the wind as they do in the country.

Setting the atmosphere of the country, the author then shows the many things to do and to see that were never observed in the city As Henry Hocky fills a bird feeder with lots of seeds, only to watch a very large group of squirrels gobble every single one.
There is poison ivy in the coutry as well as county fairs with very large tomatoes on display.

There are a host of other changes that represent change. the country such as chili dinners, butterflies, rabbits that eat everything in the garden, plentiful leaves, and those always plentiful squirrels for which Henry Hocky builds a complicated contraption to keep them out of the food. And there are stinky skunkys tha baby Hocky discovers.

Laugh out loud depictions of the things that bring prizes at the county fair, including an award for the large contraption buiolt to keep the squirrels out of the feeders.

The author ends by letting the reader know that yes, the Hocky family will adapt and stay in the country. I very much enjoy the way in which this author makes the world upside down funny with belly-laughing images that match a description of everyday occurrences.

Lane Smith did it again -- he took a simple object and rendered it funny, as family that finds country life incredily strangely interesting moves from a boring city.
Some readers might think the author is making a parody of country life and that the Hocky's are finding country Hookey. For some this may be true, for me -- Not true, Lane Smith's brilliant mind can take a simple subject and render it tremendously funny.

I'm going to check my list of the books I read and immediately add, and read those I haven't. ( )

I kind of find this book insulting. The Hocky family moves to the county. We have our own language, our own games, our own cloths. While I think this book is meant to be tongue in cheek, to me, someone who lives in the county, its insulting. A game of find the driveway because of snow, or the need to rake leaves, or how often the cock calls. Yeah, this reads like it was written by a city person who cannot appreciate the country. ( )

The story was kind of funny, but not terribly so. More often, it felt like an old-fashioned bashing of country living. It was an okay book, but not great. ( )

The Hockey family moves from the city to the country and must make adjustments to their new ways of living. The book has an interesting narrative and is instructional in obvious ways. It would be a great book to share with children that live in cities that do not get exposed to country life very often. ( )

The Hocky family moves to the country. This book teaches the different meanings of words in the country and in the city. The family learns how different it is to live in the country. Holly Hocky mistakenly makes a bouquet out of poison ivy and poison oak. The Hocky family learns how to survive in the country. The illustrations are simple, yet brilliant. Lane Smith is a fabulous author/illustrator. ( )