Deborah Hodge, photographs by Brian Harris,
Up We Grow: A Year in the Life of a Small, Local Farm
Kids Can Press, 2010.

Rating: E*

For children who have never visited a farm, this book will provide a fascinating photographic field trip. The agricultural activities are organized by season. In the spring, baby animals are born and farmers are plowing the soil. The crops flourish in the summer sun. Careful sowing, weeding and watering yield bushels full of fruits and vegetables that are sold at farmer's markets. Along with cooler weather, the fall brings harvest time. In the winter, the soil is resting, but farmers still have work to do - repairing farm equipment, tending to the animals and planning for the next growing season.

Deborah Hodge's conversational writing style asks readers lots of questions during the tour: "Which job would you like best? ; "Is there a farmers' market where you live?"; "How do you care for your animals?". Green sidebars provide more information on caring practices for the earth.

Brian Harris' photographs are stunning - you feel as if you could reach out and pick the leafy lettuce and pet the woolly sheep. The photographs were taken at the Glen Valley Organic Farm Cooperative in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Farmers are shown milking cows, plowing the fields and harvesting honey from beehives. 

It is important for children to understand where food comes from and the hard work of farmers. This inside look at rural life is authentic and a must-have purchase for all school and public libraries. .

Thematic Links: Farming; Seasons

Linda Ludke
Vol. 16, number 1
October 2010

*Rating System:
E - Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!
G - Good, even great at times, generally useful!
A - Average, all right, has its applications.
P - Problematic, puzzling, poorly presented.