Every year Americans experience natural disasters. There are floods, wild fires, earthquakes, storms, hurricanes, and landslides. Homes, business, and lives are lost, and sometimes it takes the affected areas years to recover. In the 1930's a natural disaster of epic proportions struck the United States. The Dust Bowl brought misery and loss to hundreds of thousands of people, and millions of acres of land became infertile due to drought and huge dust storms. Millions of people moved to other parts of the country to get away from the devastated areas.
There is no doubt that, for the people who lived through the Dust Bowl, it was a heartbreaking time. And yet some of them did not give up. They held onto their land hoping that good times would return.
Today's Book of Hope takes us into the life of a young man whose whole world is turned upside down by the Dust Bowl. It is remarkable to read about his experiences, and see how, in spite of it all, he finds the strength to keep going.
Next Year: Hope in the dust
There is no doubt that, for the people who lived through the Dust Bowl, it was a heartbreaking time. And yet some of them did not give up. They held onto their land hoping that good times would return.
Today's Book of Hope takes us into the life of a young man whose whole world is turned upside down by the Dust Bowl. It is remarkable to read about his experiences, and see how, in spite of it all, he finds the strength to keep going.
Next Year: Hope in the dust
Ruth Vander Zee
Illustrated by Gary Kelley
Picture Book
For ages 6 to 8
Creative Editions, 2017, 978-1-58646-282-0
On April 14th, 1935, the sun comes up and a beautiful,
cool, and clear morning is born. Calvin runs over to his cousin’s house and the
children play together, delighting in the “hopeful day.” Alas, in the late
afternoon a dust cloud blows in, a wall of blackness that blots out the sky and
the sun. Calvin cannot see where he is going as he heads home, his hand on a
fence so that he does not get lost.
When he walks in
the door of his home he is met by another cloud, a deep feeling of despair. His
mother stands ankle deep in sand, and his father sits at the table looking like
“a beaten-up kid.”
Not that long
ago Calvin got to enjoy clear skies, rain, and the sight of golden wheat
ripening in the fields. He got to enjoy seeing his mother’s pretty smiling
face, to drink milk that wasn’t gritty, and to sleep on a clean pillow every
night. Then, four years ago everything changed when the rain stopped and dust
storms scoured the land. Crops withered or were eaten by hungry rabbits, cattle
had to be sold before they perished, and children started dying of dust
pneumonia. Year after year Calvin’s dad said ‘“Next year it’s gonna get
better,”’ but it hasn’t got better.
Worn out by disappointment
and heartache, Calvin’s dad is desperate, and so Calvin sets about learning
everything he can about better methods of farming. Perhaps if they change their
practices the land will heal and the rain will come back. Perhaps he can save
the farm in spite of everything.
This powerful
picture book brings to life what it was like to live through the dust bowl
years on a farm that was affected by this appalling natural disaster. We are witnesses to the suffering that Calvin
and his family are subjected to, but we also witness the way in which Calvin
does his best to bring about change. Somehow he clings to hope, even when
everything feels hopeless.
Throughout the
book a lyrical text is paired with beautiful artwork to give readers a reading
experience that is both deeply moving and memorable.
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