Kids of all ages will enjoy the tall tales in McBroom’s Wonderful One-Acre Farm by Sid Fleischman. Fleischman has a breezy, easy-to-read writing style perfect for children.
In McBroom’s, Josh McBroom is on his way west with his dear wife, Melissa, and their
“eleven, redheaded, freckle-faced youngsters. Their names were Willjillhesterchesterpeterpollytimtommarylarryandlittleclarinda.“
Try saying that ten times fast!
McBroom is always making the best of every situation – which he certainly does when he buys 80-acres of farmland in Iowa. Eighty acres stacked on top of each other at the bottom of a muddy pond.
He and the children decide to take a swim in their muddy pond, since it’s a very hot day. The pond suddenly dries up, reveling the richest one-acre in all of Iowa. In their dirt, they grow three to four crops a day, and even nickels grow into quarters.
Adults and children will enjoy the McBroom’s tales. He “aim[s] to put down the facts, one after the other, the way things happened – exactly.” But his tales are so crazy, that no reader can believe McBroom’s claims to tell the truth. Nor do they care – McBroom is such an endearing character, readers will find themselves hoping that he ends up getting the better of his neighbor Hector Jones, who sold him the farmland and now desperately wants it back.
Cultivating Readers 
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