City Farm

Willadeene's farm is in the middle of nowhere and that's how she likes it. She plants her vegetables and enjoys her quiet life. One day a man knocks on her door and offers to buy the farm. But she refuses. Soon buildings rise up around her, and crowded streets with honking horns surround her. Still, she plants her vegetables and continues on until she grows old and her garden grows wild. She now fears she be forced to sell the farm until another knock on the door brings a surprise.

Willadeene lives on a remote farm in the countryside. Each day, she rises with the sun and the crow of the rooster, ready to tend to her vegetables, of which she has many! She grows a wide variety of delicious vegetables, including stately asparagus, crisp carrots, and bright, sunny squash. Rain or shine, each day, Willadeene is outside tending to her farm, and that's the way she likes it.



One day, a man visits her with an offer to purchase her farmland with the intention of building large buildings. Willadeene, protective as ever of her farm, refuses to sell. Day after day, the man comes back, offering Willadeene more money. She still refuses to sell.



As the weeks, months, and years pass, Willadeene refuses all requests to sell, and is soon surrounded by roads, offices, houses, and shops as buildings are built all around her and her farm. Her once peaceful surroundings are now filled with honking car horns and thumps and booms of music. Can Willadeene adapt to her surroundings? Does the farm stand a chance of surviving in the big city?



Author and illustrator Julie Koon brings to light the concept of urban sprawl through the story of a young lady's experiences on a farm. Willadeene's story, starting with the quiet farm life to being surrounded by noise and tall buildings, shows young readers the effects of what rapid development can do to places all over the world.