Corn Farm Boy

American Regional

by Lois Lenski

The story follows a young boy through one growing season on a corn farm in Iowa. Dick Hoffman loves to drive the new tractor and to care for the farm animals. A quaint depiction of the simple pleasures of farm life.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens, Fiction, Classics, Geography

179 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Lois Lenore Lenski Covey was an influential American author and illustrator whose work reshaped twentieth-century children’s literature through its combination of artistic skill, documentary realism, and deep empathy for childhood experience. Beginning her publishing career in the late 1920s, she went on to write and illustrate nearly one hundred books, ranging from picture books and historical novels to regional fiction, poetry, songbooks, and literary essays. She is best known for the Mr. Small picture book series, her meticulously researched historical novels, and her groundbreaking Regional books, which portrayed the everyday lives of children across diverse American communities.
Born in Ohio and trained formally as both an educator and an artist, Lenski studied at Ohio State University, the Art Students League of New York, and the Westminster School of Art in London. Although she initially aspired to be a painter, exhibiting work in New York galleries, she gradually turned to illustration and then to writing, encouraged by pioneering children’s editor Helen Dean Fish. Her early books drew heavily on her Midwestern childhood, while later works reflected extensive travel, field research, and close observation of family and community life.
Lenski achieved major critical recognition with her historical novels Phebe Fairchild: Her Book and Indian Captive, and with her Regional novel Strawberry Girl, which won the Newbery Medal. These works were notable for their commitment to authenticity, incorporating dialect, material culture, and social realities often avoided in children’s books of the era. She believed that literature for young readers should neither sentimentalize nor sanitize life, but instead foster understanding, tolerance, and empathy.
Alongside her own writing, Lenski illustrated works by other major authors, including Watty Piper’s The Little Engine That Could and the early volumes of Maud Hart Lovelace’s Betsy-Tacy series. Her influence extended beyond publishing through lectures, teaching, and advocacy. In 1967 she established the Lois Lenski Covey Foundation, dedicated to providing books to children facing social and economic disadvantage.
In her later years, Lenski continued writing while living in Florida, publishing her autobiography Journey into Childhood shortly before her death. Her legacy endures through her books, her educational philosophy, and ongoing efforts to expand access to literature for children.

Reviews

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the tenth volume of her American Regional Series, Lois Lenski goes to Iowa. Dick is the middle child of a corn farming family. He suffers from what was called rheumatism back in the 1950s and the condition sometimes keeps him in bed when he would rather be driving a tractor. He loves everything about farm work and also saves runts as pets and can heal all kinds of animals.

A corn farm is really a hog farm, but corn must be raised and harvested to feed the hogs. Dick's father rents his farm from his wife's brother who lives in town and takes most of the income of the farm. During the course of the story the reader gets a good overview of the cycle of raising corn and hogs on a farm.

This was the least impressive of the books I have read in the series so far. I had not read it as a child. Dick has to learn to live with his infirmity while his parents must live with their position in the family. I though Uncle Henry, the owner of the farm, was pretty much a creep. But as in all of the books, I got invested in the characters.

Now that I have read 10 of the 17 books in the series, it has dawned on me that each book is contemporary for the year in which it was published. Corn Farm Boy shows life as it was on an Iowan corn farm in 1954, with machinery becoming more important to successful farming. It makes quite a contrast to the agribusiness of today and in that way would be good history for kids.

The most interesting part was the section near the end when they take the hogs to market in Sioux City; the crowds of people, the pens and tunnels through which the hogs go to slaughter, etc all make a big impression.

[Upali Magedaragamage · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best children's books I read nearly 53 years ago, when I was a kid. The book was translated to Sinhalese (the main language in Sri Lanka) and we read that version. It was well translated and enjoyed by many. My brothers and sister enjoyed reading this book so much, we could remember every word. I am 68 years now and I still remember the book so dearly. A very great book for children and it gives the message of love, empathy and courage.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh- This is my least favorite of the American Regionals.
....something about a chipmunk leg amputation.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about a boy named Dick who lives on a farm with his dad Mark Hoffman and his Mother Bertha and has amazing adventures.
He lost the corn knife in the creek. They finally got it out. He has some kind of handicap where his heart skips beats.
He's good at helping animals. One time he helped a chipmunk that got caught in a gopher trap and fixed it's leg. -a 2nd grade reader

Corn Farm Boy is about a boy named Dick Hoffman who has rheumatism which prevents him from working hard and being a farmer like his dad. Dick loves animals and of being a veterinarian. But soon snufs out this desire. This twelve year old with a weak heart decides to run a hospital for small animals. - a 4th grade reader

[Rlis82 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is an understandable pity that the novels of Lois Lenski have not aged well. I'm convinced that if she had not won the Newbery Medal for her novel "Strawberry Girl," she might have been forgotten altogether which is sad for she is a very good writer. For her Regional series, of which "Corn-Farm Boy" is an entry, she did her homework. She visited the places she wanted to write about, got to know the people who lived in those place either in person or via correspondence, and used these experiences to portray ways of life accurately though I have no doubt that much of what she gathered was either toned down or omitted for the young audiences she was writing for. A constant theme I have gathered from the four books I have read in this series is the pride that the child protagonists have in their ways of life and the work they do. In the case of Dick Hoffman, the Corn-Farm Boy, he loves life on his family's Iowa farm so much that he fakes being sick just to come home from school to see his family's new tractor being delivered. He cannot wait to drive so that he can contribute to the work that his father and brother do for the farm for he is aware that no matter how great the corn yield is and how much money is made from that and the animals they raise, it will barely be enough to keep the family afloat. He loves the animals on his farm and takes great care of injured chipmunks, hogs, and cows, so great that he cannot help feeling guilty for eating meat after they are carted off to be slaughtered. Yet still his pride and love for his family's way of life is so strong that he is willing to defy his doctor's and mother's orders to help out. Unfortunately, these conflicts as well as the conflict that I thought might have been brewing between Dick's father and his uncle, who actually owns the Hoffman farm and allows the Hoffmans' to live on it in exchange for rent, were either downplayed or ignored and the end result isn't so much a story as much as it is a series of rich vignettes of life on a corn farm. We are treated to the rescue efforts to find little Margy Hoffman after she wanders aimlessly through a cornfield and falls asleep; Wilma Hoffman's hard and dirty summer job detasseling corn; the seriousness of treating a cow who is cut along its milk bag; and how going into town is an occasion so rare that it is worth getting dressed up for. This is very good writing, though lacking in plot as well as conflict which don't contribute to what might be a story. Hence my three-star review. In this light, it is understandable why readers have either moved on from Lenski or have simply never heard of her. She wrote about children living in times that too many people, both children and adults, probably cannot relate to in ages when the evolution of telecommunication devices have transformed how people work, consume, and stay or get in touch with people. And this is a pity for her books reflect values that I feel have diminished with time. Thank goodness for libraries. "Corn-Farm Boy" may not be the most entertaining read, but it remains a good one in the event that you are curious about how people living in Iowa during the 1950s lived. I will continue to track down as many of Lenski's books as I can.

[Stasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is bittersweet, and comes with some harsh realities, both of the farmer's life, and the pov of a child that has to realize they won't grow up and be able to achieve their ultimate dream in life. Still, Lenski handles it all so well.

But UGH! I HATED the uncle and his family, and how the uncle wanted to call all the shots on a farm he wasn't even serious about!!

[Sandy Carmichael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about a young farm boy and his adventures. The setting is in the time of my youth, I relate well with all presented.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great classic book for kids about a boy and his family growing up on a farm.

[Magda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started out a little dull (too young), but livened up enough to be a rather interesting read. Teddy liked listening to the stories about the pictures, and I'll probably want to get it and read the whole thing to him.

[Thusitha Amarasekara]

Excellent
book

[Kari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't remember this one too well, only that I read it before I'd seen Iowa, so when I saw it, and my grandma's birthplace, it was a little more exciting.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some books I find on our upstairs shelves I'm very surprised not to have read before

[Sarah Sammis]

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