Picking Peas for a Penny

by Angela Shelf Medearis, Charles Shaw (Illustrator)

A Black girl describes the hard work and the rewards involved in growing up on a farm during the Depression of the 1930s

Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens, Cultural

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Susan]

In many ways this is a charming book, with excellent illustrations. I have reservations about it being a book for the younger people it seems to be intended for. I think that some understanding of the Depression as well as the social context of living in the South, especially as a sharecropper, which these relatives may be. I would expect that knowledge might be held by YA readers or older.

[Blair Brown]

Angela Shelf Medearis's joyful counting read aloud about picking peas during the Great Depression is much more than a counting numbers book. This is a little glimpse into the world of hard working families pulling together to do what needed to be done in order to survive in those very hard times. The story follows the author's mother and uncle, when they were children, working on their grandfather's farm. The work of picking peas was very hard and hot labor, but the two children sing a counting song from 1 to 10 as they work and think about the dollar in pennies they are going to earn by the time the harvest is over. Their youthful joy is infectious as they begin to race each other in order to finish on time. The end of the story tells about the trip to town where they spend their dollar on a cornucopia of treats. Most of all, they glow with pride that they worked hard and that their family is surviving the economic challenges of those difficult days. Charles Shaw's pencil sketches offer detailed illustrations for the story, but the pencil medium also lends a simple "no frills" feel to the story. The majority of detail is given to the faces and expressions that are happy and full of hope. The theme of this story is hope and courage in the face of life's challenges. This beautiful family (pictured in a photo on the last page) shines throughout the story with humble fortitude and faith in the power of family unity. There's also a message about the value of hard work and integrity. But the impression I most often take away from this story is the hopefulness of this family, and the children especially. In the illustrations, their eyes glisten with it and it causes them to walk taller and face the work, weather, and future straight on. The courage and interior strength born out of pure faith and hope is unstoppable. I have seen this in my own life, as well as others. Life will always challenge, the variable is how we choose to face it and this family not only survived, when others didn’t, they flourished! I recommend this counting read aloud as a catalyst for discussion about the historical context, the many hardships caused by the Great Depression, but especially for the themes of hope, fortitude and unity in the midst of any of life's great challenges.