Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table

Description

Very important book for our children to encourage community involvment and the value of fresh vegetables!

“Will Allen is no ordinary farmer. A former basketball star he’s as tall as his truck and he can hold a cabbage or a basketball in one hand. But what is most special about Farmer Will is that he can see what others can’t see. When he looked at an abandoned city lot he saw a huge table big enough to feed the whole world. No space no problem. Poor soil there’s a solution. Need help found it. Farmer Will is a genius in solving problems.

In 2008 the MacArthur Foundation named him one. Jacqueline Briggs Martin author of the Caldecott winner “Snowflake Bentley ” tells the inspiring story of an innovator educator and community builder. Combined with artist Eric Larkin’s striking artwork readers will share Will Allen’s optimism and determination to bring good food to every table.

“Will Allen can see / what others can’t see. / When he sees kids he sees farmers.” Martin begins and ends with this positive premise. In between she sketches salient events that stoked Allen’s commitment to empowering people to grow their own food. Raised in a food-loving family that grew and shared its own Will eschewed weeding and picking for college and a move to Belgium to play pro basketball where he continued gardening on the side. He brought an acumen for growing veggies home to Milwaukee and saw that “fresh vegetables / were as scarce in the city / as trout in the desert.” Will bought a polluted city lot and created compost from food waste aided by red wiggler worms. He taught kids and teens to farm and traveled the world with his message. Martin’s verse text laced with word bursts in ebullient display type engages both readers and listeners. In his picture-book debut Larkin provides mixed-media cityscapes that eventually brim with the fruits of Allen’s labor and match Will’s exuberance and spirit of community. This worthy collaboration reveals how one man’s vision of food for all has inspired an amazing life of service.”
–“Kirkus Reviews”
“The book is a beautiful tribute not just to its hero Will Allen but also to the right of every child to have access to good healthy cheap food. The ultimate picture book about muncha muncha muncha…While we talk about the rise in obesity levels in the United States it just makes sense to talk about how economics affect access to healthy alternatives. And part of what makes Farmer Will Allen such a good story is that it draws that connection without getting anywhere near a soapbox…Fun and informative by turns raise a carrot or cabbage in honor of this awesome dude and his equally awesome tale.”
–Elizabeth Bird “School Library Journal’s “Fuse #8 Production” Blog”
“An inspiring non-fiction picturebook…The text is formatted as an engaging narrative punctuated by questions and dialoque.”

Review Quotes:
* “100 Titles for Reading and Sharing 2013 ” New York Public Library
* “Top 10 crafts & gardening title for youth ” “Booklist”
“The idea of farming as a community builder…comes across clearly in the book.”
— “Starred” review “Booklist”

“Will Allen can see / what others can’t see. / When he sees kids he sees farmers.” Martin begins and ends with this positive premise. In between she sketches salient events that stoked Allen’s commitment to empowering people to grow their own food. Raised in a food-loving family that grew and shared its own Will eschewed weeding and picking for college and a move to Belgium to play pro basketball where he continued gardening on the side. He brought an acumen for growing veggies home to Milwaukee and saw that “fresh vegetables / were as scarce in the city / as trout in the desert.” Will bought a polluted city lot and created compost from food waste aided by red wiggler worms. He taught kids and teens to farm and traveled the world with his message. Martin’s verse text laced with word bursts in ebullient display type engages both readers and listeners. In his picture-book debut Larkin provides mixed-media cityscapes that eventually brim with the fruits of Allen’s labor and match Will’s exuberance and spirit of community. This worthy collaboration reveals how one man’s vision of food for all has inspired an amazing life of service.”
–“Kirkus ” “Featured Kids’ Book Review”

“This lively introduction to Will Allen’s groundbreaking work (for which he’s received a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant) features a buoyant narrative by Jacqueline Briggs Martin set against Eric-Shabazz Larkin’s energetic illustrations. It’s impossible not to be inspired by their account of the creativity of Will’s venture and the hope inherent in its success.” –Cooperative Children’s Book Center “Recommended Book of the Week”
Hardcover
32 pages
Ages 6 and up