Customer Reviews

Country Road ABC: An Illustrated Journey Through America's Farmland

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Old Arthur Geisert had a farm, e-i-e-i-o. Only in this case it's A, B, C, D, E, F G and well, you know the how the song goes. But, you haven't seen a farm book like this before. It grabs you. What is it like to live on a farm today? Arthur Geisert takes us through the world of the farmer alphabetically. When you first turn a page, you are presented with a very clear cut letter and an object it represents. For example, "A is for ammonia fertilizer." Okay, you get the idea now. This is not your average alphabet book or your average farm book. But that letter is only the beginning of the fun. Now there's a two-page spread for that letter and you instantly know that you are about to go into that picture and into another dimension and there are going to be fun things to see. It's as though Mr. Geisert (I haven't met him yet so I won't presume to call him Arthur) wants us to experience farm life and he gives us little moments in time in the life of a farmer. This book is so cool! "J is for July 4" and a tractor is rolling down the street in the middle of the parade. "T is for traffic" and the shadows of the still farm equipment stand still in time and the silence of the farm and its wide open spaces fills the double page spread. Are you with me here? We're in Iowa. (Not Kansas)! Lots of fun!

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This isn't your ordinary farm book. It also isn't your average ABC book. County Road ABC captures a way of life - the life of farmers living in a small farming community, or more specifically, the life along Iowa County Road Y31. Like in his other books, Geisert creates the illustrations using a copper-plate etching process combined with watercolors and acrylics and the resulting pictures are extraordinarily detailed. Starting with A is for ammonia fertilizer and ending with Z is for z-brace, the letters of the alphabet help describe various aspects of country life. The text is rather sparse, but the illustrations ... Wow! They are amazing.

I've lived most of my life in and near small farming communities. The landscapes portrayed in the book, particularly the panorama picture that continues on the bottom edge page after page, accurately represent many of the country roads that I've traveled on. The book even depicts the seasons starting with the spring thaw and circling through summer, fall and the snowy, cold winter. The reader really does get a sense of what it is like living in a rural area. There are farm animals, a country church and graveyard, an abandoned one-room schoolhouse, a village parade, tractors in the fields, and even images of the volunteer fire department - this is the small town, rural Midwest that I know.

Anyone living in a rural area or wishing to learn about a rural area with their kids will love this wonderful book.

We checked this book out at our local library last week. My Daddy is a part time farmer and just recently my 22 month old daughter rode with him on the tractor to feed hay. She is NUTS over this book and will not put it down. She loves browsing the pictures and saying who everyone is in the picture. The pictures are highly detailed and there is so much going on during each page. The only thing I didn't like about the book was that they illustrate a cow kicking a man by kicking her leg out behind her, cows don't kick like that. Not a biggie, but still relevant. Get this book for any kid that is around farming, or that you want to get interested in farming. It's just awesome, I love it and my toddler loves it.

Purchased this for 4 yr old grandson for Christmas. He lives on a small farm and enjoys his dad's bedtime readings every night. This book will give him several new words for his ever-expanding vocabulary!

I love this book. The author lives in the small town my in-laws live in and I feel very fortunate that he based this book on the town and the people that live there. The book content is very original - one day I'll be able to read this book to my grand-children and teach them about days gone by and how it was to grow up on a farm. It's a unique and beautifully written book that I already treasure.

arrived in good condition. this book is unlike any other book of it's kind. the objects for each of the letters are refreshing, funny and educational. the illustrations are magnificent.

I live on a farm that is portrayed in this book, the author lives 4 miles away. The drawings are wonderful and whimsical - a pleasure to look at! I purchased 2, and plan to have the author sign each. One is a birthday gift for my father who owns the farm I live on. He will really enjoy it, even though it is a child's book. It will be a family treasure to share with all his grandchildren!

This is a great book for children and educational in what goes on daily in farming. Adding it to the ABC's made it interesting.

If you want your children to see what is really going on behind all those cheery red barn images on industrial food packaging, then by all means read this book to them. Country Road ABC does a great job of introducing children to big agriculture in a very unassuming way with letters standing for things such as ammonia fertilizer and erosion. My personal favorite is the letter I standing for inoculate, complete with an older man holding a large needle in one hand and a piglet in the other while two little kids help round up and mark the other swine. I hope in years to come this book, much like the type of agriculture it represents, are looked back on as a shameful part of our American agricultural history. Grow your own, buy local, and stop supporting the demise of the small farmer.