The Dust Bowl
About
A 32-page picture book by David Booth, illustrated by Karen Reczuch, for roughly ages 5 to 9. During a present-day drought on a Canadian farm, a boy named Matthew listens to his grandfathers memories of the 1930s Dust Bowl, the relentless dust, grasshopper plagues, and families who stayed or left, and learns that determination has carried people through hard times before. Soft pencil-and-watercolor art evokes the gritty, dusty atmosphere.
Why it’s great
When dust settles over Matthew's family farm during a long drought, his grandfather remembers a time when things were even harder: the 1930s Dust Bowl. Through gentle storytelling and dusty, atmospheric illustrations, this picture book introduces young readers to one of history's great farming disasters and the determination it took to survive it, a tender first look at how farmers and the land weather hard seasons together.
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