Monday, October 18, 2010

Our Farm by Michael J. Rosen


This book is subtitled: "Four Seasons with Five Kids on One Family's Farm." It's full of pictures and told through the voices of the 5 Bennett children and their parents.

General rating: 4 out of 4

1. Is it plausible? Of course. It's based on a real family's real life.

2. Is it thought provoking? Yes. I thought a lot about small farms in America, about my own lifestyle, about the farming lifestyle and a host of other things.

3. Is it engaging? Very. The pictures help a lot, as do the voices of the children. I actually wished for more details. A funny thing--this book is aimed, I believe, at an audience of children, but the text is too mature for young children and it doesn't really seem to be a good fit with older children either. I, as an adult wished for more information, so the book didn't exactly fit my age group either (unless you are, like I am, one of those relatively omnivorous adults, literarily speaking). So I couldn't really see who would be reading this book. Notwithstanding that, though, it was engaging. I guess folks of all ages who are interested in small farms would read this.

4. Is it uplifting? Yes. I find accounts of life lived closer to its natural cycles to be very uplifting. It represents an ideal to me. And this book showed a normal family that is happy, working together on the farm and still able to pursue their individual interests.

Language: none
Sex: Well, there was talk about AI (artificial insemination) for the cows... if that counts

My recommendation: If you've an interest in small farm life, it's a good read. Lots of pictures, the engaging voices of the kids... I really liked this book.

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