Greg Shed

This poetic story of harvest customs follows Bess and her family through a day of wheat harvest. It tells of team work, helping others, and humbleness. Beginning in the morning, Yolen sets the scene in the rolling hills and hot summer sun. As she sing-songs her way through the day, she portrays a relate-able and interesting story.

Personal reaction:
I really enjoyed the repetition of the words, “bringing the harvest home,” throughout the book. Yolen did a great job of creating a character you can relate to, though very few of us know the hard work of harvesting a field of wheat by hand. The story lacked a certain excitement. Yolen primarily walked the reader through the day of harvest with very little complex actions and conflict.

Classroom extensions:
1. Many students may be unfamiliar with what wheat looks like in its original form. Provide students with a sensory exploration by gathering wheat stalks, flour, and wheat products like bread and tortillas. Have the students journal their observations, including taste, touch, smell, sight, and sound.
2. Throughout the story, Yolen uses a consistent rhyme scheme. Copy a page from the book and give each student a copy. As you read the page, ask them to highlight the rhyming words at the end of each sentence with a certain color. For instance, all sentences ending in the rhyme of A will be blue, all sentences ending in the rhyme of B will be green. Then, encourage the students to write a short poem following a simple rhyme scheme of ABAB… (mais)