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Reviewed by:
  • Born and Bred in the Great Depression
  • Hope Morrison
Winter, Jonah . Born and Bred in the Great Depression; illus. by Kimberly Bulcken Root. Schwartz & Wade, 2011. 32p. Library ed. ISBN 978-0-375-96197-7 $20.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-375-86197-0 $17.99 R 7-10 yrs.

This biographical picture book tells the story of Winter's own father, who was a child in East Texas during the Great Depression. Lyrical prose with ragged right margins recounts details (crowded sleeping arrangements, kerosene lamps in lieu of electricity) and episodes (going with his father to get ice in the Model T, his grandmother taking a bull by the horns after it wandered into her yard) that the author himself heard in his father's stories. Winter's narration effectively addresses his father directly ("There were no toilets, so you had to use an outhouse. I know, because you told me, Dad. This was the world you grew up in"). Overall, this is a resonant depiction of the times with an honest and personal take on history and memoir, questioning the stories ("Sometimes it's hard to believe this world was even real. Maybe I've remembered it wrong") and transitioning from retelling them to returning to the source with questions about the hermit in the woods, the wood-burning stove, the passing hoboes. Root's pencil, ink, and watercolor illustrations depict Winter's father as a towheaded boy in constant familial contact, whether at his mother's side or in his father's arms. There's a rawboned McCloskey-esque air to some of the draftsmanship, and the slightly cool tones and rustic textures emphasize the difference and difficulty of the time even as the human interactions are tender. Despite the toughness of the featured era, there is abundant joy in this volume that resonates both in the text and illustrations. Captioned family photos adorn the endpapers, adding further depth to this deep portrayal of a close-knit family surviving and even thriving in hard times.

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