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I am a big, gigantic, humongous fan of children's books. The bookshelf my brother, Tony, built me four years ago is overflowing already, and it's not a small shelf. But, admittedly so, I am picky about what books I will buy for not only my kids, but anytime I give books as gifts. I gravitate towards the award-winning classic stories; the really good ones with great illustrations and wonderful story lines. I think that it comes from a professor I had in college. I remember sitting in class looking at books having her tell us what makes them good for young children, or perhaps, why they weren't so good. I have some of the classics on my bookshelf that she brought to light in class. I remember her talking about the spectacular books "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" (Michael Rosen), "Owl Moon" (Jane Yolen), and "Rosie's Walk" (Pat Hutchins) all those years ago. If you have never read these books to your children, I highly suggest them. You and your children will adore them.
There are authors I tend to watch, scarfing up any new or old book they may have. Jan Brett is an incredible author and illustrator; "The Mitten," "The Hat" and so many more books (most of them floating around my house). She also has a wonderful website that lets you print off all sorts of educational things to go with her classic books. The author, illustrator pair of Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin always make the boys laugh with their hilarious books. "Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, Giggle, Giggle, Quack" and "Dooby Dooby Moo" are a few in their line of animal funniness. Another author, illustrator pair that my children enjoy as well are Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond. They are the creators of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie," "If You Give a Pig a Pancake" and many other books with similar titles and storylines. To give you an idea of how these books flow, Ira and I came up with a farm kid version of our own that is quite similar.
If you give a boy a tractor, he's going to ask for a wagon.
When you give him a flatbed wagon, he'll probably ask you to get some bales.
When he's finished hauling bales, he'll ask for a little forklift to clean off the wagon.
Then he'll want a discbine to cut hay in the "fields" of just mowed lawn.
When he gets the discbine he may realize he needs a merger.
So he'll probably ask for one just like the men use.
When he's finished merging all his hay, he'll want a chopper to chop it all up.
He'll start chopping any field he can find - merged or not.
He may even end up chopping some very wet fields (also known as puddles)!
When he's done, he'll probably want to build a pile like the men.
You'll have to find him a box with three sides and some plastic.
He'll fill it up with haylage (grass) and maybe even some corn silage (corn and grass) and pack it down a few times.
Realizing his tractor isn't tough enough, he'll ask you to get the "dualie."
So you'll bring him his "dualie" tractor, and he'll ask you to open up the hood.
When he looks under the hood, he'll think it's broke down, and he'll need to take it to Wally's. He'll ask for his trailer and log chains to haul it there.
He'll haul it Wally's.
When the tractor is finished, he'll want to drive it home himself.
Then he'll need you to drive his other tractor back.
Which means he'll have to hurry home to pack the pile.
He'll start packing the pile and think he needs a blade for his "dualie."
Thinking about new blades will remind him he may need his wagon to haul it. Chances are if he asks for his wagon, he'll need his tractor to pull it.
The idea came to me to write this after stepping on tractors and implements of all kinds in my living room, and having to drive tractors across the floor because they had to drive something else and needed an extra driver. After I asked the boys if they thought they had enough tractor toys, they responded that they were sure they needed a discbine and a merger. Seems no matter how much equipment they have, they are always sure they need just one more thing. Does this sound like your little farmers? Because, after all, if you give a boy a tractor, he will probably need a wagon to go with it. Happy reading!
Jacqui, her dad, sister, and brother milk 550 cows and run 1,000 acres of crops in the northeastern corner of Vernon County, Wis. Her children - Ira (5) and Dane (3) - farm with her while her husband, Keith, works on a grain farm. She loves to cook, quilt and garden and wishes there were more hours in the day to get it all in. Farming and teaching others about farming are her passions.
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