Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp

Much has been said about this book. All I can say is, "wow" what a book. I shed bittersweet tears as I read this wonderful book. Although I never lived in Weedpatch, I was born in 1935 to migrant Arkies. We lived in the Linnell Camp near Visalia. This story is my life. Oh how I could relate. This book was like a motion picture, that I was in, and I traveled right down the road with it. I don't know if a person could relate if they haven't lived this life, but, I know that this book is so well written and illustrated that surely a person with a heart and caring spirit should be able to follow this book even if they could never imagine the deep down hardships, how the kids and families stuck together, bonded and had a good time. A lot of us could add our names to the long list of Weedpatch kids that became a success; it only takes hope, dreams, a longing for a better tomorrow, and a can do spirit. It is always an added benefit to have a man like Mr. Hart to believe in you. I loved this man and only wish he were still alive so that I could thank him for caring and acting on those cares.

Being an Okie I had heard stories from my grandparents about the dust bowl when I was a child. This book is a wonderful look at the past and how children and adults struggled during the dust bowl. These were displaced people hoping to survive in a state that didn't want them. Much to my surprise I found a cousin of mine in this book, Willard Melton. I highly recommend this book for all ages.

This book is a beautiful testiment to the human spirit, and the resilancy of the American spirit. It is also the story of taking a chance on people that other's find useless. A beautiful book and a beautiful story.

this book is an excellent companion to the historical ficiton book "Bud, Not Buddy." By reading aloud sections of Children of the Dustbowl, teachers could build some of the background knowledge that would help children understand how the daily lives of the average person changed as a result of the Great Depression and the 5-year drought in the Midwest. Given the devastation of Hurriicane Katrina, this book also offers insight on what can happen when large numbers of people must migrate because of weather-related disasters.

The writing in this book is excellent, flowing evenly from page to page. Many of the photographs within are pure art, having been taken by Russell Lee, Dorothea Lange, and others. These two people are the Pieter Bruegel and Thomas Hart Benton (depicting plain, everyday folk) of American photography. This book relates a small chunk of American history, to be sure, but more than that, it relates universal themes of the human condition. Overall, the book relates the brutal conditions of the dust bowl, the migration over the mountains and desert, taunting and prejudice from settled Californians, and eventual attainment of excellence, as revealed by the construction and maintenance of the Weedpatch School, which eventually became a model school in the community. My 5 1/2 year old enjoyed reading every page, and found particular mirth in the unusual daily chore that the dust bowl children did with their cows. The description of this unusual chore is worth the price of the book. What was this daily chore? One way to find out is to borrow or purchase this book.