Picture Book Review – Night Fell at Harry's Farm
A Discussion of Carey Hedlund’s 1997 Illustrated Story
Nov 4, 2009
Night Fell at Harry’s Farm follows a family outing prompted by a dinner invitation from someone named Harry. Along the way to Harry’s farm, the rather clueless tourists (father, mother, two daughters and a son) encounter obstacles and mysteries, finally reaching their longed-for destination as the sun goes down. The book’s conclusion features a lively backyard dinner and a prolonged denouement in which the guests struggle to find comfortable sleeping arrangements.
Themes Explored in Hedlund’s Family-Friendly Story
Although contrasts between urban and rural surroundings make up a significant portion of the book, the focus isn’t exactly “city mouse, country mouse.” The story’s main themes seem to be the need for persistence in life and the social, or perhaps sentimental, underpinnings of making a journey. When people stick together, the book asserts, they find happiness.
It should be noted that Night Fell at Harry’s Farm is largely a visual work, full of whimsical pictorial details and significantly less personality in the text. Any “message” that comes across is more or less subtext drawn out from the pictures. Nevertheless, it is a very enjoyable read, due in no small part to its light-hearted subject matter.
Overall Narrative Structure in the Story
Young readers and listeners will warm to the story as the family quickly gets lost along the road out of town. Excitement and complication come in the form of a roadside blaze, which fire-fighters are bringing under control, thus allowing the family the chance to ask for directions. Even so, they continue to lose their way and arrive at Harry’s quite late.
A seemingly empty house greets them, dimly lit and mysterious. Their host has set up an impromptu kitchen out back, where the modest assembly dines, dances, and thrills to stories around a fire. This reward for the family’s itinerant hardships is then offset by their strange overnight accommodations: Harry’s collection of junky old cars. Nevertheless, they make do and are again rewarded in the morning by a delicious breakfast, courtesy of Harry.
Language and Text in Night Fell at Harry’s Farm
As noted above, the verbal side of the book is plain, possibly underworked, but not entirely lacking in charm. Hedlund has ostensibly erred on the side of minimal explanation. Indeed, Harry’s identity and his relationship to the travelers is never revealed. Is he an uncle or simply a family friend? The reader is free to decide, or perhaps search for non-verbal clues, but these are not forthcoming.
One clever trick Hedlund employs: the opening text of the book doesn’t actually come from the first-person plural narrator but from the words of a hand-printed dinner invitation, brought into the house in the jaws of the family dog. Harry, it is suggested, sends messages through a kind of animal magic.
Artwork and Design Elements in the Book
Liberated from classical perspective and infused with humor, Hedlund’s drawing style can tell a story all by itself. People, pets, cars, and buildings take shape with minimal lines and contours, yet they never fall into abstraction and are capable of pulsing, jagged dynamics. The palette is equally vibrant, articulated in finely-worked surfaces with pastel crayons.
The cast of human characters is by turns nerdy, bold, calm, and agitated. Harry, vaguely cowboyish in his red boots, adorns a stunning “dream” image in which he vaults across the sky, carried by fireflies. Most engaging, however, are the animal portrayals, especially the quirky cats and dogs. They help to bridge the two worlds of city and country and, echoing the book’s attention to fellowship, have clearly become full-fledged members of the depicted family.
Publication information:
Night Fell at Harry's Farm, by Carey Hedlund. Greenwillow Books, 1997. ISBN: 0688149324.
 |
