A Simpler Time

Ox-Cart Man

by Donald Hall

Pictures by Barbara Cooney

Summary

Readers meet Donald Hall’s Ox-Cart Man as he loads up his wagon for his annual trip to Portsmouth Market, where he will sell the foods and handiwork his family has been producing during the last year on their New England farm. Potatoes, maple sugar, knitted mittens, goose feathers and linen are all loaded for the 10-day journey. Upon his arrival, Ox-Cart Man sells everything, even the cart he traveled to market in. After procuring some necessary supplies with his earnings, Ox-Cart Man returns for the winter and his family settles in for the winter and begins the annual process again. Planting, knitting, sewing and harvesting.

Worth staying up past bedtime?

If you have a reader who likes history, pioneer times, or even simply animals on a farm, Ox-Cart Man is a good book to stay up for. It is not dynamic or flashy, but I loved its steady rhythm and simple story line. With our increasingly busy and technology-filled lives growing louder every day, I think it is important to remind children of how people lived in years past. Barbara Cooney’s wood-painted illustrations are beautifully detailed, and they made me feel nostalgic for a simpler time, the way I imagine some people feel when looking at a Norman Rockwell painting. Ox-Cart Man is a breath of fresh air that I think many children can enjoy.

Reviews

"Like a pastoral symphony translated into picture book format, the stunning combination of text and illustrations recreates the mood of 19-century rural New England."

-The Horn Book

1980 Caldecott Medal Book

In the library

Read Ox-Cart Man for a group story time and set out a table with some of the items mentioned in the book for children to see afterward - feathers, wool, maple sugar, candles, knitting. Consider having the reader dress in period clothing.

SLIS 5420 / Module 3

Week of Sept. 13-19