How the Indians Bought the Farm [Hardcover]

Craig Kee Strete (Author), Michelle Netten Chacon (Author), Francisco X. Mora (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1996

A great Indian chief fools a government man into believing that a woolly bear is a sheep, a beaver's wet nose belongs to a pig, and the rumble of running moose is that of cows.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Ages 4^-8. In an original trickster story, the wild animals help the Indians outwit the white government officials. A great Indian chief and his great Indian wife have to leave their homeland and move to a farm. If they want to keep the farm, they are told they must raise sheep and pigs and cows, but they don't have money to buy animals. Instead, they bring friendly moose, beavers, and bears to their farm, and when the Great White Father comes back with soldiers, the animals help fool the whites and chase them away. Mora's folk art^-style nature scenes in predominantly blue, green, and brown watercolors pick up the laid-back humor of the story. There's droll slapstick as the huge animals crowd into the Indian's canoe and as they put the pompous officials to flight. Yet the irony is powerful: kids will get the sense of the Indians' displacement and their respect for the wild creatures they do not own. Hazel Rochman

From Kirkus Reviews

A tongue-in-cheek, witty text with pictures that illustrate more than amplify how one ``great Indian chief and his great Indian wife'' triumph over a tricky government relocation policy. The government man tells a skins-clad native couple to leave their lands and move into a wooden house that stands near the wooden barn; the only catch is that they must raise sheep, pigs, and cows, and they haven't the funds to buy these animals. Still, they're gamely cooperative, and soon the wife (now in a white apron) waves her husband (now in bib overalls) off on a canoe trip down the great river to find livestock. He acquires a moose, a beaver, and a bear, in a hilarious, three-animals-in-a-canoe sequence. A week later, the animals have collected enough friends to join them on the farm so that when the government man comes to check compliance (bringing a thick stack of papers and several other officials), he is soon dispersed, leaving a paper trail behind him. ``Bought the farm'' is, of course, a gallows-humor euphemism for death, but the death of a former way of life turns out happily indeed, in a perfect read-aloud book. (Picture book. 5+) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow; 1st edition (May 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688141307
• ISBN-13: 978-0688141301
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,516,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Clever & nicely illustrated!, February 24, 2002

By 

Steve Dana (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How the Indians Bought the Farm (Hardcover)

This is a fun and nicely illustrated children's book. Great watercolor pictures support clever story. I really enjoyed it!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Two Stars is Charitable, November 23, 2005

By 

Library Gaga (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How the Indians Bought the Farm (Hardcover)

. The Indians (not `Native Americans') have a problem: where are they going to get the cows, pigs, and sheep the government representative tells them they must raise in order to keep the new house and barn on which they have been forced to move? With low finances, they must use their ingenuity to procure livestock from the woods.

As moose, beaver, and bear come to their aid, the message that Native Americans are more in sync with nature comes across. The wild animals act anthropomorphic and win the Indian couple their farm.

It is a mildly amusing story with watercolor illustrations that will win no Caldecotts but aren't too bad. This story is freighted with heavier meaning than children will understand or care about.