Author: Donald Hall
Illustrator: Barbara Cooney
Age: 2-5 years

Ox-Cart Man is a 1980 Caldecott Medal winner poem-turned-story about a farmer and his family. The book details the ox-cart man’s journey of packing up the home goods his family made all year and the trek he takes to go to market and sell the wares.

Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall inside page
Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall inside page

I love reading this book to my children. In fact, I read out of the book I received for Christmas back in 1987. (How do I know when I received this book, you might ask? Well, my thoughtful grandparents inscribed a message to me. I’m thinking we need to bring back that institution of tender book inscriptions.)

Times are so different now! I really enjoy sharing a glimpse into what life might have been back in the early 19th century. The illustrations evoke a gentle Americana nostalgia that my children wonder over. (I was asked once where all the cars were when the man got to town.)

The only downside of this book, for me, is that because it is a poem set up as a story the lyrical pacing is odd. There are a lot of run-on sentences that span multiple pages and very few end punctuation marks. But I can forgive that because I love this book and the graphics that complement the narrative.

Children like Ox-Cart Man for its unique view into the past of household chores and everyone pitching in for the greater good of the family. They especially like how the man sells off literally everything he came to market with, including his ox and cart. Adults will love the soft images and the work ethic shared by the whole family.