Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall was the winner of the Caldecott Medal in 1980 and tells the delightful story of a farmer and the cycle of providing for his family. In the spring, the farmer hitches his ox to a cart and loads up all the things his family grew or made throughout the year. The family loads maple syrup, honey, cabbages, turnips, wool, birch brooms, candles, shingles, linen, and more. Then, the man travels to Portsmouth and sells everything, including his cart and his ox. The man buys what his family needs for the winter and walks back home. Throughout the year, the family makes and grows and prepares all kinds of things to be loaded up and carried to town on an ox-cart again in the fall. The Ox-Cart Man introduces young readers to life on a 19th century farm and immerses them in the cycle of the seasons through the poetic rhythm of the story.