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Adventures of McBroom
McBroom's Ear
Weekly Reader Children's Book Club Edition, Copyright 1969, Author, Sid Fleischman, Illustrated by Kurt Werth, Clean book and unmarked pages, small brown spot on back of book
40 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
About the author
Sid Fleischman
126 books154 followersAs a children's book author Sid Fleischman felt a special obligation to his readers. "The books we enjoy as children stay with us forever -- they have a special impact. Paragraph after paragraph and page after page, the author must deliver his or her best work." With almost 60 books to his credit, some of which have been made into motion pictures, Sid Fleischman can be assured that his work will make a special impact.
Sid Fleischman wrote his books at a huge table cluttered with projects: story ideas, library books, research, letters, notes, pens, pencils, and a computer. He lived in an old-fashioned, two-story house full of creaks and character, and enjoys hearing the sound of the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Fleischman passed away after a battle with cancer on March 17, 2010, the day after his ninetieth birthday.
He was the father of Newbery Medal winning writer and poet Paul Fleischman, author of Joyful Noise; they are the only father and son to receive Newbery awards.
Sid Fleischman wrote his books at a huge table cluttered with projects: story ideas, library books, research, letters, notes, pens, pencils, and a computer. He lived in an old-fashioned, two-story house full of creaks and character, and enjoys hearing the sound of the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Fleischman passed away after a battle with cancer on March 17, 2010, the day after his ninetieth birthday.
He was the father of Newbery Medal winning writer and poet Paul Fleischman, author of Joyful Noise; they are the only father and son to receive Newbery awards.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 12, 2014
The soil on Josh McBroom's farm is amazingly rich.
Anything would grow in it - quick. Seeds would burst in the ground and crops would shoot right up before your eyes. Why, just yesterday our oldest boy dropped a five-cent piece and before he could find it that nickel had grown to a quarter.
Yep, this is a farm where the tales grow as tall as the corn.
Why, to hear McBroom tell it, EVERYTHING is bigger, better and even HOTTER than anywhere else.
The sun-ball began to outdo itself. Hot? Why the next morning it was so infernal hot that a block of ice felt warm to the touch. Mama had to boil water to cool it off. Sunflowers along the road picked up their roots and hurried under the trees for shade.
Join the silliness as McBroom and his eleven children do battle with a plague of grasshoppers and attempt to grow some prize-winning veggies for the County Fair.
Bushels of fun for everyone (sorry!) and another terrific (tall) tale by a wonderful storyteller.
Anything would grow in it - quick. Seeds would burst in the ground and crops would shoot right up before your eyes. Why, just yesterday our oldest boy dropped a five-cent piece and before he could find it that nickel had grown to a quarter.
Yep, this is a farm where the tales grow as tall as the corn.
Why, to hear McBroom tell it, EVERYTHING is bigger, better and even HOTTER than anywhere else.
The sun-ball began to outdo itself. Hot? Why the next morning it was so infernal hot that a block of ice felt warm to the touch. Mama had to boil water to cool it off. Sunflowers along the road picked up their roots and hurried under the trees for shade.
Join the silliness as McBroom and his eleven children do battle with a plague of grasshoppers and attempt to grow some prize-winning veggies for the County Fair.
Bushels of fun for everyone (sorry!) and another terrific (tall) tale by a wonderful storyteller.
June 29, 2021
This was an absolutely adorable little bit of American Tall Tale folklore. I'll have to see if our library system has more of them, because the littles absolutely loved it.
August 11, 2022
I recently came across this book at a used book sale; having read other books by Sid Fleischman, I decided to pick it up. I was not disappointed.
It is really a tall tale, and an enjoyable one at that, with a fun, surprise ending. :-D I've read it to my grandkids, and we had a good time together, laughing over the absurdities of the tall tale. (I read it to my husband, while we were traveling, and he got some chuckles out of it, too. I think one of the marks of a good children's book is when adults enjoy it, too.) There is one objectionable (to me) slang word, which I skipped over when reading aloud.
Since reading it, I've discovered that Sid Fleischman actually wrote a number of books about McBroom, so I may have to check out some of the others.
It is really a tall tale, and an enjoyable one at that, with a fun, surprise ending. :-D I've read it to my grandkids, and we had a good time together, laughing over the absurdities of the tall tale. (I read it to my husband, while we were traveling, and he got some chuckles out of it, too. I think one of the marks of a good children's book is when adults enjoy it, too.) There is one objectionable (to me) slang word, which I skipped over when reading aloud.
Since reading it, I've discovered that Sid Fleischman actually wrote a number of books about McBroom, so I may have to check out some of the others.
June 15, 2019
We love McBroom books! Hilarious tall tales!
December 19, 2019
”I’d as soon live in a tree as meddle with the truth.”
This was SO GOOD & I obviously need to read more children’s fiction. ‘Cept this portrayal of Southern grasshoppers is 1000% accurate, sooo... nonfiction?
This was SO GOOD & I obviously need to read more children’s fiction. ‘Cept this portrayal of Southern grasshoppers is 1000% accurate, sooo... nonfiction?
April 17, 2019
McBroom's Ear is the third book in the McBroom series, about simple farmer Josh McBroom's family and their rich soil that can grow ANYTHING. The gimmick of the series is that McBroom professes to always tell the truth, and after an amazing story full of unbelievable exaggerations he'll confess to one small fib that implies everything else was undisputed fact. This was one of my favorite book series as a child.
In McBroom's Ear, McBroom's children (Willjillhesterchesterpeterpollytimtommarrylarryandlittleclarinda) find their plans to grow giant vegetables for the County Fair (which, considering their amazing soil, does seem a bit like cheating) threatened by massive swarms of grasshoppers on one of the hottest days of the year.
As with all of the other books in this series, the most charming aspect is the exaggerations and illogical descriptions employed by McBroom in his narration. In McBroom's masterful storytelling hands, the day isn't just hot, it's so hot that the wax beans began dripping like candles, and you have to boil water just to cool it off. The McBroom series is a celebration of the fun side of language and storytelling in which the events aren't as important as how they are described.
On a side note, the McBroom series would be reprinted in later decades with different illustrators, and while not commenting directly on their artistic merits, I think it's a shame that later generations were introduced to McBrooms tales with more cartoonish illustrations. Kurt Werth's artwork in the original McBroom publications introduced a level of realism to the comical tales being told, and lent an air of credibility to the stories that Josh McBroom himself would have appreciated.
In McBroom's Ear, McBroom's children (Willjillhesterchesterpeterpollytimtommarrylarryandlittleclarinda) find their plans to grow giant vegetables for the County Fair (which, considering their amazing soil, does seem a bit like cheating) threatened by massive swarms of grasshoppers on one of the hottest days of the year.
As with all of the other books in this series, the most charming aspect is the exaggerations and illogical descriptions employed by McBroom in his narration. In McBroom's masterful storytelling hands, the day isn't just hot, it's so hot that the wax beans began dripping like candles, and you have to boil water just to cool it off. The McBroom series is a celebration of the fun side of language and storytelling in which the events aren't as important as how they are described.
On a side note, the McBroom series would be reprinted in later decades with different illustrators, and while not commenting directly on their artistic merits, I think it's a shame that later generations were introduced to McBrooms tales with more cartoonish illustrations. Kurt Werth's artwork in the original McBroom publications introduced a level of realism to the comical tales being told, and lent an air of credibility to the stories that Josh McBroom himself would have appreciated.
July 13, 2019
More "corny" fun with the McBrooms and their wonderful farm.
The third book about the adventures of farmer Josh McBroom, his wife Melissa, and their several red-haird children (WillJILLHesterCHESTERPeterPOLLYTimTOMMaryLARRYandlittleCLARINDA) was originally published in 1969 and is illustrated by original series artist Kurth Werth. This one, typically, shows the kinds of near-calamaties and amazing fortunes that can occur on the fabulous one-acre farm (where ANYTHING will grow, and grow wildly fast and large) because of the weather - in this case, summer weather so hot that you have to boil water to cool it off, so hot that wax beans melt on the vine and that flies drop out of the sky with sunstroke. You get the idea.
This tall tale mostly concerns the McBroom clan's attempts to get their amazing crops ready to take to the fair, only to be thwarted by the biggest clouds of grasshoppers you ever did see. McBroom's ingenious plan? Plant hot peppers in the miracle soil, and give them hoppers a tongue-torture that'll keep them away from the farm just long enough to grow one special crop to top all the prize winners that ever were. Even when a gigantic ear of corn is eventually ready to go, though, our family's troubles aren't over - and you'll just have to read it yourself to see how they get it to the fair, and what happens after.
Great fun for tall-tale lovers of all ages, one of my favorites of the five books I've read now though I think McBroom's Zoo remains at the top of the heap, and that's probably the one I'd pick for new readers to try first.
The third book about the adventures of farmer Josh McBroom, his wife Melissa, and their several red-haird children (WillJILLHesterCHESTERPeterPOLLYTimTOMMaryLARRYandlittleCLARINDA) was originally published in 1969 and is illustrated by original series artist Kurth Werth. This one, typically, shows the kinds of near-calamaties and amazing fortunes that can occur on the fabulous one-acre farm (where ANYTHING will grow, and grow wildly fast and large) because of the weather - in this case, summer weather so hot that you have to boil water to cool it off, so hot that wax beans melt on the vine and that flies drop out of the sky with sunstroke. You get the idea.
This tall tale mostly concerns the McBroom clan's attempts to get their amazing crops ready to take to the fair, only to be thwarted by the biggest clouds of grasshoppers you ever did see. McBroom's ingenious plan? Plant hot peppers in the miracle soil, and give them hoppers a tongue-torture that'll keep them away from the farm just long enough to grow one special crop to top all the prize winners that ever were. Even when a gigantic ear of corn is eventually ready to go, though, our family's troubles aren't over - and you'll just have to read it yourself to see how they get it to the fair, and what happens after.
Great fun for tall-tale lovers of all ages, one of my favorites of the five books I've read now though I think McBroom's Zoo remains at the top of the heap, and that's probably the one I'd pick for new readers to try first.
February 28, 2026
This vintage picture book is appropriate for modern chapter book readers with it's 20th century references and truth-bending wit. Typical McBroom exaggerations take the winding story through multiple disasters, but I particularly enjoyed the both the resolution and the ending of this classic Sid Fleischman comedy. I prefer this edition with more literal illustrations by Kurt Werth over the Walter Lorraine edition.
April 23, 2018
This book is cute and fun. I do wish it had a moral to the story, a lesson to teach & share. Those books seem to be fewer and fewer these days and this one is when I was a kid. the illustrations are simple but I love that all the kids hair is red. Where is their mother? Definitely will read more of his books. Hopefully I will find answer to that question.
October 9, 2021
In a used book store I stumbled across McBroom's Ear, by Sid Fleischman. It is part of a series of tall tales about or told by McBroom and his family. The wild exaggeration provides lots of humor.
August 18, 2015
Funny family and story!
March 14, 2018
4.5- my parents used to read these books to my sisters and me when we were little. I loved them then and I love them now!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews