With compel - ling prose, accompanied by poignant illustrations, the author recounts his father’s childhood growing up during the Great Depression. The story con - veys the hardship and struggle, yet also an appreciation for what one had and the optimism for the future.

Summary:
A child is telling the story about his father being a child during The Great Depression. He tells the story of a life that was difficult, but also a life of family closeness. Everyone worked hard, got paid little, but helped each other. The kids dreamed of a better life, but still enjoyed the life they had.
Personal Reaction:
This story brings me back to so many stories that my grandmother told me growing up. She was a young child during The Great Depression who had a mother and father that worked hard to make it. Grandma was the second youngest of 6 kids and they lived in a 2 bedroom house. Like the author of this story Grandma talked about all the good things not the bad.
Classroom Extension:
1. I would pull up pictures on the smartboard of The Great Depression Era so that the children could have a mental picture of what it looked like.
2. We would talk about the jobs that people did during the Great Depression and the amount of money they got paid. Then I would show them by using fake coins and we would turn it into a math lesson by adding up how much money a person made a month during that time. ( )

This story is about a boy talking about what his father's father went through in order to survive during the great depression. They lived in a little house with eight children sleeping in the same room and there was no indoor plumbing, so they had to take baths and use the restroom outside. There was also no work, so the boy described how his grandfather had to race other people just to work hard for 10 cents a hour. They would get plenty of vegetables that they grew outside to keep them fed and the extras they stored in mason jaws. There were even homeless people in the story that would mark the mailbox of friendly people that would help them, so other homeless people knew that that house was friendly and willing to help. That part of the story I never knew about. I never knew it was a custom for homeless people during the depression to mark the mail boxes of the friendly. The boy also talks about what made life bearable during the depression like how his father spent time with his father and taking rides in there model T. This book can help children understand the depression and how bad it was for many people. It can also help children appreciate the small things in life we all have now that we take for granted. ( )

The book Born and Bred in the Great Depression was a great children’s book that accurately portrayed the time period and got across many themes in a kid friendly manner. The book takes you through a young boy’s life that shows the reader how difficult times were. The author acknowledges all of the complications in order to provide real examples. On the second page, the author says “You got your water from a well because there was no indoor plumbing. There were no toilets, so you had to use an outhouse.” This is just one example of how the text demonstrates the problems of the time period. Not only does the author portray the time period well through the text, but he also does it well through the illustrations. On the fifth page, there is an illustration of the railroad tracks. Right beside the tracks lays a rugged wooded area with junk in it that shows the despair of the era.

The book is also able to get across themes that bring back a sense of happiness to the downtrodden times. The little boy, who is the main character, is able to remain happy in a time of depression. Even though times may be tough, it’s important to keep your head held high. On page five, the author says, “With no money for new shoes, your feet got tough as leather walking barefoot down the gravel roads, walking on the hot rails day after day – that’s what you’ve said. But you’ve also said you never went hungry.” Despite the boy’s lack of shoes and the pain he may have suffered on his feet, he made the best of the situation, by saying that his feet became tough. In the illustration, the boy appears cheerful and is enjoying the outdoors. The main character also remained joyful when he said “And it was a good day if you got to play chess with your dad.” Even though they didn’t have much money, the boy still had better things that mattered more to him.

The main idea of this story was to exemplify the times of the Great Depression, while reminding reader’s that life is still worth living and enjoying, as “you learn to love those things that didn’t cost a single penny.” Even though the boy didn’t have money or material things, he had not only his family, but his love of the outdoors as well to keep him happy. ( )

Born and Bred in the Great Depression tells the story of the author's father during the Great Depression. I think this book would be great to read to children because it gave great insight into how people lived during this time. Another aspect of the book I really like is that the story is told from the perspective of a child so it would be easy for other children to understand. ( )