Ethel Footman Smothers

Emma, who comes from a migrant family, has a passion for writing and books. She gets off task while helping her parents in the field just to write and her parents constantly get her attention for it. She gets enrolled in school and borrows books and takes them home even though she is not supposed to. Her mother makes her own up to what she did, so Emma did. Her mother gives her money out of their "hard-times jar" so Emma can go buy some books of her own. This book portrays poverty and is a good resource to use in a social studies class as an example that children can relate to.… (mehr)

The Hard-Times Jar is a story about a family who are migrant workers that traveled to the North (U.S for work). The family keeps a hard times jar that they are never to touch for "extras" The main character in the story is a young girl (Emma) who loves to read and write. She's always getting caught writing while she is supposed to be working. Now, living in the north, she gets to go a non-segregated school for the first time and develops a real love for books. She loves them so much that she decides to "borrow" a few and bring them home.That night, her mother finds the books. She makes Emma bring them back and tell the teacher what she did. The next day, Emma confesses to her teacher and her teacher is surprisingly understanding. As a reward for telling the truth, her mother reaches into the hard times jar and gives her enough money to buy a book. In this new place, the opportunity to go to school, a good teacher, and her family's love have helped Emma's dream to come true. I found myself really hoping that Emma will continue reading and writing and someday maybe even become a great writer!… (mehr)

Tokee did not want to stay with her aunt. She didn't like the fact that she didn't have anything up to date and she thought it was super boring over there. After Reb leaves her with Her auntee she learns that old fashioned stuff isn't that bad. She learns historical thongs about her family. Sometimes we get caught up in technology and wanting to do what we want and forget about our past and how it got us to where we are. I think this is a great book for children to show them its important to learn from our elders.… (mehr)