Making Plum Jam

by John Warren Stewig, Kevin O'Malley (Illustrator)

It's August in Minnesota. The cornstalks have grown taller than the cars, and the plums are ripe for the picking. For Jackie, a city kid on a visit to his three aunts' farm, the simple task of making plum jam becomes an adventure when they meet up with a not-too-friendly farmer who isn't eager to part with his plums...

Genres: Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 3, 2002

About the author

Professor of Curriculum at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Mr. Stewig lives in Glendale, Wisconsin.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lyrical nostalgic story of a boy spending the week with his aunts down on the farm. Plum jam, forgiveness, and quiet adventure.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet story of a young boy spending a week on the farm with his aunts in the summer as a child. Not suitable for a group read aloud, but works for one-on-one.

[Geri chesner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book written by my doctoral chair, professor John W. Stewig. :) Based on his own experiences as a child. Finally getting around to reading it!

[donewithdora · Rating 1 out of 5]

The aunts who take the boy plum-picking don't ask permission from the farmer who owns the tree and end up escaping from the angry farmer in their car, like bank thieves. What kind of example & message is that? In the end, the boy secretly delivers plum jam to the farmer and the farmer's feelings soften, but still...

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked this book...talk of the old days and living that way.
Glad that in the end the farmer got a jar of jam. After they were using the farmers plum tree to make the jam. Even though they stole the plums....the story does say the farmer doesn't use all the plum from the tree and they end up rotting on the ground.

[Christi · Rating 4 out of 5]

oh-i really liked this.

[CFAITC]

Jackie, a city kid, visits her aunts' farm and has a whimsical adventure while helping with the simple task of making plum jam.