Jill Esbaum is the author of numerous picture books, including
If a T. Rex Crashes Your Birthday Party,
Teeny Tiny Toady,
Elwood Bigfoot: Wanted: Birdie Friends,
Where’d My Jo Go?, and the Thunder and Cluck series. Her books have been nominated for many state awards, named to the IRA’s Notable Children’s Book list and International Youth Library’s White Ravens List, and featured as a New York Times Editor’s Choice (
I Hatched!). Jill lives with her husband on their farm in Iowa, which has been in the family for over one hundred years.
Melissa Crowton has illustrated various books for toddlers and young children, including the picture books
Mousie, I Will Read to You by Rachael Cole and
Your First Day of Circus School by Tara Lazar. Her work has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators, Creative Quarterly, and American Illustration. She is also a winner of the portfolio showcase at SCBWI's Winter NYC conference. Both of Melissa’s grandfathers were farmers. She lives in Utah.
The tightness of Esbaum’s onomatopoetic rhyme makes potentially unfamiliar terminology accessible, while Crowton’s lovely and detailed illustrative art invites immersion—her grounded palette and innovative use of perspective and shadow permeate the story, evoking autumn’s crisp temperatures and wood-smoky smells.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Crisp, textural images by Crowton (In Our Garden) bring a hand-painted, toylike feel to scenes that steadily depict hard work. There’s something here for every reader: savory language in smartly scanning rhymes, detailed scenes of farm life, and a step-by-step tribute to the machines and processes that make the harvest possible.
—Publishers Weekly
The artwork has the sturdy squareness of Eric Carle’s animals blended with the soft faces of Raymond Briggs’s human characters.
—School Library Journal
Readers interested in farm life will be especially intrigued, of course, but the lyrical text makes this an inviting and enlightening read-aloud even for those who have not yet given much thought to where corn comes from.
—Booklist
Esbaum’s well-crafted rhyme carries the corn from field to bin with every accompanying sight, sound, and smell. Crowton’s warm, inviting illustrations in an autumnal palette help both to convey the information and to humanize the work. . . . An informative and playful ode to agriculture.
—The Horn Book
