A Boy, A Barn, And a Boxcar

The boy, Norman, spent his formative years growing up on a large farm on the North Dakota prairie. It took twenty years of storytelling to bring this book to fruition. Norman was the storyteller and his wife was the narrator who recorded the wonderful adventures of his life on the farm.

Norman was born in the middle of a North Dakota blizzard in the forties. He was brought home to live in a house that was not really a home as we know it. It was actually a well-insulated refrigerator boxcar attached to two railroad work cars. It was nothing like what the fictional Boxcar Children lived in. It was real! This narrative describes the day to day chores and adventures of a little boy who faced the rugged life on the prairie because he had no other choice.

The author, Cherry Carl, was a classroom teacher and Language Arts Specialist for 35 years. She continued her role as an instructor at the University of California. She has a strong commitment to children as readers and a passion for children being able to read and write independently.