I had no idea I'd like this so much. I admire the courage of the author to write something that's not Wimpy Kid or Percy Jackson. This story is *true* - it's real to the heart and soul of small modern farms. It reveals why books for toddlers are still about pigs oinking and cows mooing. Farms are our heritage. And yet: Farmers are torn up when they name livestock. Their wives do have to,nowadays, get a paying job. Children don't always understand what's going on, for example why dad is so cold to the animals, or why the neighbor boy is almost a bully.

A rich story, worth a slow & careful read, told so simply (yet beautifully and carefully) that even a seven year old city girl will get a lot out of it. If I were a third or fourth grade teacher this is the book I'd choose to read to the kids in a chapter-a-day setting - that way they'd have lots of time to think about all the ideas. We might even make time to discuss it, if they seem interested - and it would be interesting to see how different the discussion ideas would be from farm kids vs. town kids.

What made it a five star book, to me, was the bonus message about living in nature. If you can read only one chapter, read Big Night. Also I love the line Crows were the only birds who bothered to make noise this late in the season." Does the young child in your life know why that's true?" ( )

A delightful, gentle, and thoughtful novel. An irresistable story for any animal lover. ( )

Recommended Ages: Gr. 4-7

Plot Summary: While in the barn with Grandpa, Eli helps pull a calf from his mother's body and breathes life into it. It's his first calf--the first he gets to care for and train for the show, where he hopes to live up to his family's expectations and bring home the blue ribbon. It's not all fun and games. It's hard to love and care for an animal that will be sold in a few months. It's even harder when your dad and grandpa are giving different advice. Not to mention a neighbor who can be a bad influence and a distraction. Will Eli even be able to go to the fair to compete, or will he be kept home for lacking to find the poisonous plants and trespassing into the abandoned barn?

Setting: small town with lots of farm land, somewhere with cold winter, mention Pennsylvania but might not be there

Characters:
Eli - 4th grader,
Little Joe - Eli's first calf, needed to be pulled out of his mom after she was in labor for an hour, Eli and Grandpa helped pull him out but he wasn't breathing so Eli had to breathe into his nose and mouth, a bull who takes after his father in size, bled a lot when he got his tatoo, didn't like the harness at first but overall became very close with Eli
Grandpa - lives nearby, shares a love of animals with Eli, like a fatherly figure towards Eli because he's very warm and nurturing and they have lots of moments with just the two of them, such as when they go on a school night to watch and help the salamanders and animals cross the street to get to the pond when winter ends, mentors and supports Eli, gives him a box with all of the supplies
Chet - Eli's dad, tells Eli not to get to attached to his animals because they are all going to get sold, advises him to uses numbers instead of names to avoid getting attached, not very warm towards Eli but not mean Eli is just a little afraid of doing the wrong thing, gets "angry/disappointed" when he finds a poisonous plant in the fields where the cows are grazing and blames Eli, his first calf was named Shamrock who died within 24 hours after he brought the calf to a large unused field and ate poisonous plants
Hannah - Eli's younger sister, always seems to do the wrong thing even though she thinks she's helping, a huge talker and talks non-stop
Keller Tibbet - 4th grader, only neighbor boy near Eli's age so Eli's mom makes Eli hang out with him, almost 6 feet tall, probably repeated 4th grade multiple times, might be twelve, mom is frequently gone and doesn't have too much supervision, likes to challenge Eli and suggests going into an abandoned barn, when he falls and breaks his arm in two places Eli is praised for not entering the actual barn
Tess - girl who lives down the street, an animal lover like Eli, loves horses, Eli has a crush on her, don't know how old she is
Ned Kinderhoff - person who everyone thinks will end up buying Little Joe

Recurring Themes: animals, family, friendship, bully, farming, beef cattle, show

Controversial Issues:
loc 349 "then guzzle it down with some beer"
loc 1743 "I'll probably just end up wiping my arse with it"

Personal Thoughts: This short book was a struggle for me. I just wasn't interested in it and had a hard time staying awake while reading it. The characters were developed enough, and by the end I felt more connected to them. I think that this book might be more interesting to students in rural areas, as it's probably familiar to them, but they might be bored by the description if they already know it. I personally liked Heart of Shepherd better because it had a little bit more action and excitement and I connected with the characters better, even though Heart of a Shepherd was a ranch not a farm.

Genre: realistic fiction

Pacing: sloooow (I fell asleep a few times, even in the middle of the day)
Characters: Keller is confusing because sometimes he is nice and sometimes he goes out of his way to be annoying; Hannah is the perfect younger sibling--annoying but with good intent
Frame: certain things are not explained very well; for someone who is familiar with showing animals and living on a cattle farm, it would be easy but for others
Storyline:

Activity: ( )