Customer Reviews

Potato: A Tale from the Great Depression

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This is a children's book written by a little girl whose teacher though her essay about her grandparents would make a wonderful book. The book tells the story of a family who during the depression had no work. So they picked potatoes. The owner of the farm told them that any potatoes they picked after hours were theirs to keep. The entire family picked potatoes, loaded them on their ancient car, drove back to their hometown, and supported themselves with their potato cache for the next winter. I will use the book to encourage my children and grandchildren to keep family stories alive.

This is one of the most charming and touching children's literature books I have ever read!!! I would recommend this book to children of all ages including those young at heart!!

This is a story of pure sweet simplicity. It was actually written by an 8 year old girl who tells the true story (though the eye of a child) of a flash in time during the Great Depression. It is about her grandparents.

It is simply told. "Dorothy and per parents lived in Iowa. Clarence and Agnes had not been married long. Clarence list his job and the bank too away their house."

Wow! Does this sound familiar? Does this sound relevant? The little girl goes on to tell how a transitory job at a coal mine vanished and how the family end up in Idaho picking potatoes. When the potatoes were picked each day, the farmer let the family harvest all that they wanted during the night. The family did so my moon light and when they left for "back home," there old borrowed car was filled with bags of potatoes.

No whistles or bells her folks. No heavy drama. No complaining. No shouting about who was at fault; who was to blame and no agonizing despair. No, there is just simply dignity and the story tells simply how it was and how a family survived. The family just did what they had to do.

The art work here is very simply. Soft water colors framed on a light brown page (the same light brown you would find on the old potato sacks) add a sweetness and simplicity to the already whimsical story. This is a wonderful little read for the little ones and lots of lessons can be gleaned from its reading.

On a personal note: This little book has been sort of special to me since I first ran across it shortly after it was published. About forty some odd years ago my wife and I lived in Idaho for a couple or three years. While the country at that time was most certainly not in a state of depression, our family most certainly was. "Living in reduced circumstances," through no fault of our own, would be putting it kindly. Our children were quite small at that time. By this time potatoes were not harvested by hand, but were gathered using large machines. These machines would skip about ever sixth or seventh row. A couple of very nice farmers in that wonderful state would let us enter the fields in the evening after the machines had quit, and we were allowed to gather all the potatoes we could dig. I had purchased a couple of very old potato forks for a dollar each at a junk shop. My wife and I and our little ones were able to gather enough potatoes during harvest time to see us though the entire winter. I have always appreciated the kindness of those folks in that state.

Anyway, enough nostalgia. This is a good read and it should be added to your child's library.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

My little ones ask me to read this to them all the time. They love the pictures and the story is filled with deeper concepts that allow a parent to explain humilty and thankfulness to a child. It's the kind of story that prompts questions and answers and I love that!