The Sandman: His Farm Stories

These are stories born from a father's love and a child's bedtime routine. William John Hopkins crafted these tales over nearly three years specifically to lure his young son into sleep, and the patience and tenderness of that original purpose radiates from every page. Little John awakens on a 19th-century farm where the work is hard but the family is close, where oxen must be yoked and cider pressed and maple sap boiled down to gold. The boy helps his uncles with the ancient rhythms of agricultural life, and in doing so, he discovers the quiet dignity of labor and the seasons' steady passage. These are not adventures in the dramatic sense there are no villains, no quests, no cliffhangers. There is only the warm repetition of farm tasks and the contentment of a child who belongs to the land. The prose has the unhurried quality of a voice speaking in a dim room to a child whose eyes are growing heavy. For over a century, these stories have put generations of children to sleep. They remain perfect for reading aloud at bedtime, for a quiet afternoon, for any moment when a gentle story is the only thing needed.