Once Upon a Farm

by Marie Bradby, Ted Rand (Illustrator)

Told in poetic detail and with Ted Rand's exquisite watercolors, "Once Upon a Farm" portrays the toil and triumph of farm life.


With barns and bales, fences and flowers, chores and churns, we weather the seasons along with the young narrator. Told from a child's perspective, the story follows a family working together to make a life on the land they hold so dear. Resonating with rural truths, this family's toil and triumph in our country's heartland will strike a chord with readers everywhere. "Once Upon a Farm" is a place we can all recognize.

Genres: Picture Books, Poetry, Childrens, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2002

About the author

I grew up in the suburbs on the East Coast, the sixth of seven children. I attended public schools, I was a Girl Scout, played soccer, was a majorette and played the clarinet and oboe through college. After I graduated from Hampton University, I worked as a journalist for newspapers and magazines for years.

My husband and I have one child -- a teen-age son -- and I became interested in writing children's literature when he was an infant. I began seriously studying children's literature by reading, attending writing workshops, writing, and joining professional writers' organizations and a critique group. To pay for books on writing, attending workshops and organizational memberships, I worked as a free-lance writer for various magazines.

It took about eight years before my first book was published.

When I am not writing, I enjoy gardening, playing tennis, biking, yoga, and of course, reading.

Reviews

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

A poem about life on a farm and the loss of farm land. A rare instance of people of color in an existing library book that isn't "bondage, boycott, or basketball." It is about strife and nostalgia and the loss of environment. The loss of a way of life. I think my rural kids can relate to this in that even though they do not see city expansion in our area (can't due to land owner stuff-- lease land everywhere), they do see it when they go to the larger cities around us. And they will certainly relate to the farming things earlier in the book.

[Reilly Beaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is on my list because it is unique. It is written in a poetic style about life on the farm. I have a personal connection to this poem because I grew up on a farm and I can relate to lots that this book talked about.

[Cynthia Egbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the poetic element in this one and the emotion evoked is powerful. And painful. This one broke my heart.

[Victor Navarro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The intended audience is 4-8 years old, with a larger audience being families from rural areas who went through a similar story.
The story is about a family, a black family and their journey with trying to preserve their daily life on their farm, and their story along with moments of their days and things they did/ went through. It reflects life in rural areas and how different life is compared to suburbs and Urban environments showing insight into a different lifestyle, and different ethnicity.
I chose this due to the story showing life on a farm, the family values, and the journey of this family to which many may be able to relate to.

[Adrianna LaGuardia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is about a young boy who does not like the change in his life. He lives on a farm. He recounts his life on the farm and some of his favorite things about it. Through the time past urbanization begins to occur. He is appreciating his lifestyle more and more as the aspects of the city role into his rural lifestyle. Remembering the way the tractor rumble and how they churned cause him to feel more nostalgic on the past. He does not like what is occurring to his land,but does not have a choice other than to deal with it.
Being that this picture book is historical, there are elements that coincide with it. There is accuracy of the history within the book. The topic of urbanization is seen and read about by many. This book is on the vague side when it comes to the actual true information on urbanization. I would not recommend this as a book to read to children for historical fiction.

[Mackenzie Sipes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reaction: This story had beautiful illustrations. I enjoyed the perspective of the brother and his little sisters. It was all recalling things on the farm. It was sad as the story progressed that the farm began to go away which is similar to what is happening with growth of cities around the country.

Purpose:
Curriculum: This book has a lot of words kindergartners or first graders could begin to recognize. Also could be used in a unit about different places you can live. It gives a great perspective of what it is like to live on a farm. It could create good discussion with vocabulary in the classroom. Discuss the literary elements including the figurative language included in the story.

Read Aloud: There is a lot of emotions depicted in this book when they sell the farm. It is ambiguous why the farm is sold and torn down which can create discussion with your students. The pictures say a lot and can also create discussion because of the rich color and details used.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Once upon a Farm by Marie Bradby is a children's historical fiction book about a a boy living in a farm. It goes through his daily chores and it shows what he does in the free time. He looks like he is care free and doing his day to day activities. One day he starts talking about the city and how it's getting larger. Eventually he moves out of the farm with his family.

As a historical fiction book, I feel this book is weak. The character is care free and flat the entire book, and the historical conflict is with urbanization and the farm being bought, though that's only in the last few pages. The setting is never mentioned, and no dates are given. The farm's location is never revealed, nor is the city that is growing closer to it. The only things that stand out is that the illustrations are vibrant and beautifully drawn. I do not recommend this book if you are looking for a good piece of children's historical fiction.

[Jonnathan Ortiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

When first seeing this book i imagined it having to do with slavery. I soon realized that it didnt have to do with slavery, but it was about a family that lived independently. I like how the story is told in a child's perspective. I think it's great when children read perspectives on other children's lives. Even though they may not know what is going on, they can kind of relate to the character.

I can use this book when doing a lesson over rhyming words. This author uses rhyming on every line.
I could also use this book if i am doing a lesson over farming. The setting for the whole book is on a farm, so i could talk about the animals, the tractors, and the jobs that farmers do.

[Kelly Triplett · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of farm life is told in a poetic manner. I feel like there could be a great message to share with children while reading this book, but I am not sure how it would translate into elementary classrooms. Perhaps it could be as simple as "enjoy things/experiences as they occur because we are never sure what the future holds". Despite being an important message, it's a little depressing. There may be an appropriate opportunity to share this book/story/message with children. Until that moment, I don't think I would be inclined to house it in a classroom library.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another picture book told in verse, which I am not always fond of, The overall theme of this is a family enjoying life on the farm and its simple pleasures and ends with the farm being sold for urban development.
The last two stanzas say:
A sale
a sign
move with the times

I took a heart full
things we didn't sell
how a stream sounds, the way rain clouds look, how sweet dirt smells.

Ah, yes, how sweet dirt smells and I will add feels, our experiences are stored forever, regardless if we are in that childhood place or not. Those last three lines endeared this book to me forever.

[Carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a Historical Fiction book from a little boys perspective from many years ago. He talks about how simple life was back on the farm; plowing during the day, digging wells for water and chopping wood for furniture. The book goes from describing how happy and simple it was to the emotions he felt when they started building cities near his farm and how life changed. I liked this book and it is good insight to children to what life was for everyone many years ago and how some still live like this in other areas.

[Felicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I choose this book hoping that it could give a look into farm life. this would be useful for a school in a bigger city where children may have never seen a farm. This book did give a look into farm life but not quite what I was expecting. The illustrations are beautiful. The book tells the story with rhyming, which may add some readers but will be frustrating to others.

[Ashley Greenfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of farm life is told in a poetic manner. I feel like there could be a great message to share with children while reading this book, but I am not sure how it would translate into elementary classrooms.

[CFAITC]

This poetic book describes the toils and pleasures of life on a family farm.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illustrations and simple rhyming text recall life on a family farm.