Nancy takes a photo of the book as we drive south on Highway 100.
A Farm Country Picnic, our seventh book published by Beaver's Pond Press, Edina, tells the tale of a farm family putting up hay day after day while the children long for a break to go to a nearby lake to fish, to swim, and to picnic. The father admonishes the kids for asking for a break by telling them, "'Make hay when the sun shines' is farming's old rule," but the next morning when when the children wake up to a rainstorm, they know they may get their wish to go to Web Lake to have some fun.
But as every farmer knows, the word farm comes before the word family in every farm family, and when the Watkins man drives into the yard exclaiming their cows are out, the entire family knows they will spend the day rounding up cows and fixing fences. Their shoulders sag as one at the news.
Like all the stories in my Farm Country Tales series, the story is written in rhyme and meter, portrays farm activities accurately, and shows the positive results of a family working together to accomplish goals. Ever sensitive to the needs of the farm and their children, the parents in the story give the kids a special picnic in their own pasture after the work is done. Nine-year-old Mags proclaims, "This sure beat old Web Lake!"
The book features a map of the farm which shows were the cows got out and a glossary that defines some of the farm terms.
More sample pictures are displayed on my website.
www.gordonfredrickson.com
Gordon and Nancy, congratulations on publication of your latest book. How many is it now? Thanks for sharing the story of rural Minnesota via your writing and outreach.
ReplyDeleteIt's been our pleasure to travel, to tell our stories, and to listen to the stories of others. This is my seventh book with Beaver's Pond Press.
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