Materials
Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall
Small samples of foods mentioned in the story: potato, apple, maple sugar, and
wintergreen peppermint candy
Instructions
1. Ask the children how people took things from one town to another before
there were cars, trucks, or airplanes.
2. Tell them that one way people moved things long ago was to put items in a
cart and use an ox to pull it.
3. Show them the cover of Ox-Cart Man. Ask them if they can find an ox, a cart,
and the ox-cart man.
4. Read the title of the book, the author, and illustrator. Explain that the book
explains how people lived and worked long ago in our country.
5. Read the book and discuss it with the children.
6. Encourage the children to taste some foods mentioned in the book. Omit
certain foods if any of the children are allergic to it. Offer small samples of the
following foods for the children to taste: baked potato, apple slices, maple
sugar candy, and wintergreen peppermint candy.
7. Show the children a two-pound (2 kg) bag of something. Explain that the twopounds
of wintergreen peppermint candy that the ox-cart man bought had to
last the family for a whole year! Candy was a rare treat.
