We’ve all heard about Rosie the Riveter but the Women’s Land Army? This picture book offers a glimpse into a part of American history that’s seldom told. During World War I, women volunteered and were trained to work on farms, both because more production was needed to support the Allies and because the young men who usually did the job were being called away. This account is fictional but it’s based on a real place and real people as it follows one woman who signed up. She goes through the rigorous training and then the challenge of being taken seriously enough for someone to hire her and her colleagues and pay them the same wages men would earn for the same work. Gouache paintings offer both a sense of the historical time period and the hard work these women did on the homefront. (Ages 7–10)

Based on true events from World War I, this fictional story follows “farmerette” Helen Stevens as she trains to farm the land, convinces a farm owner to hire her and her colleagues, negotiates a fair wage, and does her bit for the war effort.

Beginning as a movement to put women to work on farms in place of men serving overseas during WWI, the Woman's Land Army grew to be an integral part of the food supply chain during the war. This unique look at a forgotten history celebrates the true grit of American men and women.