By Ann Turner
                 Pictures by Robert Barrett
           An I Can Read Book:  Level 3 (Grades 2-4)

       Tough times are ahead.  Jake and Maggy like life on the farm.  They like to holp Papa in the fields and sing and dance to Mama's radio.  Then the dust storms come and the crops are ruined.  So Papa sells the farm.  "we'll go to California, where the land is green and lush," he says.

     Jake and Maggy don't know what they'll find when they get to California, but they do know one thing:  As long as the family stays together, everything will work out just fine. 
 

                           By:  David Booth. Illustrated by Karen Reczuch.
                           Toronto: Kids Can Press Ltd., 1996. 17 pp. hardcover, $16.95.
                           ISBN 1-55074-295-7 CIP.

                           Grades 4 - 7 / Ages 9 - 12.
                           Review by Floyd Spracklin.

                           ****/4 

Excerpt: 

     "A few of us farmers ploughed deep furrows around the fields to stop the earth from blowing away.
     Others thought it was hopeless to keep planting because their ploughs just turned up dry, fine dust that
     blew away in the wind. A few went to church and prayed for rain. For some, farming was becoming a
     slow way to starve." 

David Booth is the author and anthologist of more than thirty books. His works include Images of
Nature: Canadian Poets and the Group of Seven and Doctor Knickerbocker although The
Dust Bowl is his first picture book. Karen Reczuch is an accomplished illustrator whose previous
books include Just Like New and The Auction, nominated for the 1991 Mr. Christie's Book
Award. 

   This is a tale of the great drought of the 1930's. It captures readers' attention from the very
beginning with its colorful and provocative cover, through to the many splendid illustrations, and
wonderfully large print. The mood of uncertainty and impending doom is very cleverly crafted for
its intended younger audience. 

                              Though this story is about the almighty, invincible and unmerciful forces of Nature, the
                           family is resolved to stick to its roots. "The rain will come. If not this year, then next
                           year. We can hang on." 

                              The fine illustrations and attention to historical details are a tribute to the many, many
                           hours both author and illustrator have obviously spent researching for this wonderful
                           picture book. "One big dust cloud blocked out the sun for days." There are shades of
Barry Broadfoot's many years of gathering the stories from the prairies and of Sinclair Ross's intimate knowledge of the
prairies. "She (Grandma) scrubbed her fingers to the bone, but the dust kept winning." All with one exception. This is a
book for younger audiences. Although no bibliography is present, the author does acknowledge the works of several writers
and historians.

   The Dust Bowl should surely find a worthwhile niche in the curriculum of elementary to lower junior high language arts and
social studies programs. Students will quickly identify with Matthew, the young boy through whose eyes the story is
revealed. Whether one lives in the timberlands, near the ocean, on the wheat fields, or in the orchards of Canada, this story
with its hard work, uncertainty both in Nature, and in gaining a livelihood will ring true.

Highly recommended. 

Floyd Spracklin is a Language Arts Department-Head at G.C. Rowe Junior High School in Corner Brook, NF. He has
been teaching, writing, and reviewing literature for twenty-five years and has published a number of short stories,
essays, and poems in Canadian magazines. 
 

                          By Tracey Porter
                          HarperTrophy, 1999  Ages 8-12

     Best Friends don't have to be the same.

     Annie May Weightman is happiest on the ground, firsting throught the dust for traces of the past, while Violet Cobble looks to the future with dreams of escaping to Californiz and becoming an actress.  In Oklahoma during the great Depression, their gamilies struggle against the drought and endless dust, but in these terrible times Annie and Violet's unlikely friendship is the one thing that flourishes.  Theirs is a story of friendship, courage, and hope -- treasures shining through the face of hardship.
 

                                          By:  Karen Hesse 
                                         Medal - 1998 

                                          Grade:  5-8
                                         Topics:
                                                 Depression, dust storms, farm life, Oklahoma, poetry
  Summary:
            Set in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl, this is the story of 14 year old Billie Jo. Told in diary form as a series
 of free-verse poems, the book is a realistic portrait of the Depression-era with entries dated from the winter of
 1934 through the winter of 1935. Readers explore the hardships of living on a family wheat farm. Billie Jo's mother 
dies after an accident with burning kerosene and Billie Jo blames herself and her father for her mother's death. Billie Jo is a talented pianist, but is reluctant to play after burns scar her hands. She leaves home, but soon learns how much "dust" is a part of  her. We can almost feel the heat, dust, and wind as she struggles to survive a difficult time.