Fantastic Farm Machines (review)

Books about the vehicular beasts in the cargo and construction biz are a dime a dozen, but their brawny country cousins that can flex muscle with the best of them don't seem to get the same literary respect. Here Peterson showcases a dozen farm behemoths that plow, fertilize, plant, water, reap, and clean, and a couple of truly clever multitaskers as well. Each machine gets a double-page spread with three or four crisp, clear color photographs—most of which include a human being to convey an awesome sense of relative size—and a descriptive paragraph. Since Peterson herself appears on the first spread, talking about "our family," there's an implication that the scenes therein are of her thousand-acre Wisconsin dairy farm. John Deere-green endpapers and the Deere logo coyly captured on the cover tractor look suspiciously like product placement to entice Future Farmers of America, but Case, Ford, and RoGator also get their moments in the sun. Farm kids will beam with pride, and city kids can just eat their envious hearts out.