Accelerated Reader Program Selection
“Artley’s illustrations have a homespun feel reminiscent of Norman Rockwell. His writing is conversational and informative, like one neighbor talking to another, or a grandfather sharing history and lost practical skills with his grandchildren.”
—ForeWord
“This is a beautiful book, that progresses through the seasons, bringing life to an almost forgotten time. For reading or browsing, it’s a delight.”
—School Library Journal
“It’s almost like stumbling on to a personal journal, full of recollections, paintings and sketches.”
—Farm Collector
“Artley details farm life with amazing accuracy and detail . . . It’s all here documented from the memory of an Iowa farm boy shared in detail with all readers who want to know or remember ‘once upon a farm.’”
—Iowa Reading Journal
From the butchering of the pigs in springtime to the plowing of the corn in the summer, Bob Artley describes the sometimes tedious, sometimes enjoyable, aspects of growing up on an American farm. Artley’s farm is neither ideal nor outmoded, but simply his world as it was in a particular time and place. His clear (and sometimes poignant) recollections of rural life through the seasons are beautifully captured in the detailed watercolors and line drawings that fill the book. Here is a fascinating and informative account of the past on Artley farm—a past that includes both the smell of new-mown hay and the stench of manure.