Cotton in My Sack

Cotton in My Sack by Lois Lenski was a book I read in fourth grade that helped shape my own desire to become a writer myself. I loved all of Lois Lenski's books because they were stories about real children whose lives were quite different from mine. I grew up as the middle daughter of a middle-class family in the middle of WWII, in the middle of Ohio, in the middle of May. Thus, I always say my six-word autobiography (Ernest Hemingway's invention) is "In The Middle All The Way." Before I read Lenski's books, I thought all children grew up somewhat privileged, as I did, but reading the stories she wrote made me aware of a much larger world and how children like me but growing up with much less in the way of material comforts adapted, survived and thrived under very different and sometimes quite difficult conditions. I was thrilled to discover the book was still available on Amazon and wanted tor read it again as I'm now writing stories from my own life for our kids and grandkids. I want them to know the significant impact these books I read as a child have had on my own life and career as a free-lance writer for a regional children's hospital writing stories about children whose lives have been saved and positively changed through the generosity of donors whose gifts are making life-saving health available for all children who need them.

The setting for the book, Cotton in My Sack, took place in the area where I live. Therefore, I could identify with the areas mentioned in the book. My mother used to tell me stories about chopping and picking cotton when she was a child. It took the whole family to chop and pick it. She told me that she also weighed the cotton that the others picked so they could be paid correctly. Of course, there was no modern machinery like cotton pickers at the time she worked. Children were needed to help the family earn a living.Times have changed so much. The characters in this book would have loved the air-conditioned cotton pickers that are in the fields now!

Read this as 1st grader and wanted to revisit some of my favorite reads. Staring a Lous Lenski books collection.

I loved this book 45+ years ago and I'm thrilled to have it again to read to and with the special young people in my life now, friends and grandkids. I find I have to explain some PC issues/words, I'm happy to do it, but the life of the migrant workers is still relevant today. It's a great story about perseverance and family bonds.

I love this book by Lois Lenski. I found this book when I was in elementary school in an agricultural area of Arkansas. This book reflects the area in my hometown as a child recollecting memories of the harvest in the fall. Traveling to out of town football games having to wait on farm machinery to get out of the highway to be on our way to get to the games before kickoff.Cotton is no longer produced on a mass scale in this area of Arkasas any more. The last cotton gin is now in the process of being torn down!!

This was written about my hometown. I felt like I traveled back in time. I thought I knew who she was writing about and I loved it. If you want to know what it was like to be in the 'cotton pickin era; of all times, this is the book.

love this author's stories

Great