The Farm Book

E. Boyd Smith published The Farm Book in 1910 knowing even then that the farm life he was painting was disappearing, and that preservation instinct gives the book its particular warmth. Bobby and Betty's summer visit to Uncle John's farm becomes a guided tour of a complete agrarian world — sowing, harvesting, caring for animals — rendered in illustrations the New York Times in 1910 said children could 'spend hours over.' The 1990 reissue with Barbara Bader's foreword rightly positioned this as a historically significant American picture book, a genuine early milestone in the development of the form. The honest caveats: the text style is early-twentieth century and will feel archaic to some modern children, and the narrative is extremely slight — more illustrated almanac than story. For families interested in American heritage and history, or for collectors, it is a genuine find. Completely family-safe.