One penny.

In the hot, mean summer of 1933, a penny is enough to buy caramels or red hots or peppermint sticks or licorice strings. Is it enough to buy Miss Elsie's Strawberry Farm?

There's only one way to find out. Davey takes a deep breath and shouts, "One penny for Strawberry Farm!"

Set during the Great Depression, and illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist Rachel Isadora, Saving Strawberry Farm brings Davey's Midwestern town to life as friends and neighbors plan to save the farm the only way they can -- with a secret penny auction!

Davey and his family are having some trouble growing their crops which means that they are very low on money. Unfortunately, they are not the only ones. Everyone in his neighborhood is in the same boat. One person that stood out was Miss Elsie since she was know to have the best strawberry farm. Davey and his neighbors agree to help her buy back her farm at the auction by keeping the bids low. This story demonstrates the difference that can be made when everyone works together to help a person. They had to stand together during those times and that is exactly what they did. ( )

Saving Strawberry Farm was during the Great Depression in 1929. When reading you cold tell the book was very old because the characters didn't have fancy houses, nice clothes, or a lot of food. They had to do the bare minimum to keep what little they owned. The fourth of July was coming up and Davey wanted to have a picnic like they always did. His mom told him to go to the store and get a block of ice for lemonade. He went with is sister, Rosie. While there he saw Elsie Elkins, the owner of the Strawberry Farm. She was loosing her farm so the town came together for a penny auction so she could keep it. ( )

This was a very cute book. I loved the valuable lesson in this book. I think about the will power it must have taken those little kids to not buy candy at the store when they went to buy ice. In addition, I love the will power Davey had to not spend the penny that Mrs. Elsie gave to him. He was very courageous also to stand up and speak out at the auction and bid a penny for the strawberry farm. It was very refreshing and I really enjoyed this story. ( )

Family, friends and the entire community comes together to safe the strawberry farm from being sold to an "outsider." . ( )