Born and Bred in the Great Depression

September 26, 2011
Root’s sun-faded, ink-and-wash drawings make gentle companions for Winter’s (Here Comes the Garbage Barge!) account of his father’s hardscrabble Depression-era childhood. She softens the rough edges and sees the beauty of the East Texas country where Grandpa Winter lives with his wife and eight children. Directly addressing his father in second-person narration, Winter pulls no punches about the humiliation Grandpa Winter faced to keep his family fed (“Some mornings... he had to run a footrace against other men like him./ If he won, that meant he got to work that day”); Root (Whatever Happened to the Pony Express?) shows Grandpa Winter crossing the finish line a stride ahead of the other men. “But you’ve also said/ you never went hungry,” Winter recalls, as Root draws the family gathered around a table spread with vegetables from the garden. There’s time for fun, too, such as a trip to the icehouse in the old Model T. Winter’s writing is thoughtful and deeply felt. Root’s portraits of the boy’s solitary exploration convey the force of Winter’s message about “learning to love those things/ that didn’t cost a single penny.” Ages 5–9.

January 1, 2012

K-Gr 4-The wonder of nonfiction these days is how beautifully it is written. No more lackluster text meant to inform but not to delight. Winter has told the story of the Great Depression through the eyes of his father, who was the youngest of eight children at that time. Further, he tells the story in eloquent verse that is a treat to read aloud. Its unhurried pace feels like the time period in which people sat on porches with their banjos and played games. While his father's family barely scraped by, the children never went hungry and their pride was intact. Winter incorporates quite a few facts about the Depression that supplement the family's experience. He tells about the Hoovervilles where the homeless camped and the wandering hoboes who left signs for those coming after them to identify a friendly home. Root's soft and nostalgic pastel palette is the perfect choice for the verse that is equally soft and nostalgic. The endpapers adorned with the author's family photos extend the artwork and the topic even further. This book will have more of an impact on readers than a listing of facts about the era. Seeing how real people led their lives with an appreciation for things "that didn't cost a single penny" brings the period alive in a way that a textbook never could. A great addition to any library.-Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2011
Grades 2-4 In this unusual picture book, Winter tells of his father's East Texas childhood during the 1930s. The parents (the writer's grandparents) look after their eight children in a tiny house without electricity or indoor plumbing. Grandpa Winter took any work he could get, while Grandma Winter raised food, cooked, cleaned, and milked the cow. Terrified of thunderstorms, she'd herd her children into the cellar before an approaching storm and wail with fright. Elements of the story, such as having a father who can't find work, will resonate with children today. There's a tinge of nostalgia to the story, in which Winter addresses his father directly, reminding him of tales he has told about his childhood. But the narrative clearly conveys a child's-eye view of the Great Depression and offers hope for the blue skies of better days. Written in evocative vignettes and illustrated (using pencils, ink, and watercolors) with sensitivity to the characters' emotions as well as their surroundings, this picture book brings the 1930s sharply into focus.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2012
"There were ten of you -- eight kids and your parents -- in four small rooms. You slept at the foot of one bed because there were only two beds and you were the youngest...I know, because you've told me, Dad." Choosing an unusual but effective narrative voice, Winter addresses his father, retelling Dad's own tales of growing up poor in East Texas. Dad described his own father competing for scarce, ill-paid jobs by running footraces. His strong, hardworking mother once faced down a wandering bull, though storms terrified her. The family lacked indoor plumbing, but with homegrown food, "you never went hungry." Hoboes who shared their modest fare brought stories from farther afield: riding the rails, seeing the grim Hoovervilles up north. Remembering his boyhood, Dad is still proud that "poor as we were, my folks never took one dime from the government," though the author observes that "maybe they should have." Still, they enjoyed good times with books, music, companionship, the natural world to explore, and "learning to love those things that didn't cost a single penny." This window into a time when people took scarcity for granted is effectively visualized in Root's pencil, ink, and watercolor art, where sturdy, active figures inhabit simple surroundings rendered in a palette dominated by blue, gray, and brown, while storefronts tout such prices as "Hair Cuts 5 cents." Eight vintage snapshots of the family appear on the endpapers. joanna rudge long

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2012
Winter retells his father's tales of growing up poor in East Texas. The family enjoyed good times learning to love those things that didn't cost a single penny. This window into an era when people took scarcity for granted is effectively visualized in Root's pencil, ink, and watercolor art. Eight vintage snapshots of the family appear on the endpapers.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)