Veteran storyteller Jan Andrews, author of the Canadian storytelling classics Very Last First Time and The Auction, has taken a true Depression-era story and moulded it into a tiny literary gem. Pa’s Harvest feels just like the kind of tale you might hear around the kitchen table in an old Ontario farmhouse.

With his son Ephrem’s help, Pa planned to plant the best crop of potatoes ever. That year he promised presents for Christmas and new clothes instead of the usual hand-me-downs. As Ephrem weaves readers into his story, we find that Pa was right about his potato crop, but, unfortunately, he wasn’t the only farmer in their Saint John River community with the idea. Going to town to sell the crop, Pa discovers that no one wants potatoes. He has to go logging to provide for the family and store the potatoes in a cold cellar. But in a cruel twist, the potatoes rot over the winter and Pa and Ephrem are forced to dump the entire crop. An otherwise despairing ending is rescued by a brief epilogue that is heartwarming but not too sentimental.

Andrews’ attention to nuance is indicative of the craftsmanship that she brings to her task. In transforming Ephrem Carrier’s story into a book for children, Andrews pays careful attention to pacing, tone, and the creation of young Ephrem’s voice. Every word seems accounted for in this spare, elegant text. To complement Andrews’ fine wordcraft, Toronto artist Cybèle Young has washed a series of exquisite black-and-white pen-and-ink illustrations with pale watercolours, perfectly conjuring up a sense of the lost rural past.