I love this book! It is so real and life like! The drawings and all the actual entrys from his diary. I sent this book to a friend who lives in africa and HE LOVED IT!

I read this book as a young adult. It was like turning back the clock one hundred and fifty years, but unlike a lot of history books, it has no political, social or moral agenda. Indeed, it paints a luminous picture of rural life, while giving more useful information in the text of the diary and in the annotated pen-and-ink illustrations than most "country living" manuals. Check out Eric Sloane's barn books as well - more masterful work!

This is an excellent book for kids and adults. The book is fully illustrated with drawings that detail how things were built and how they worked. They capture kid's attention better than "Where's Waldo?", but unlike that meaningless book, there's a lot to be learned from this little gem! Lance Greenlee

This book is well written, fun, and an entertaining story of a boy who falls in love an old barn and finds more than friendship and enemies along the way! A must read for any one who loves Americana in an easy read with indepth detail!

This book presents early american real life on the farm with many wonderful detailed illustrations. Learn how a grist mill works, how roads were dug, how stone walls came to be, and other wonderful information about early america. The illustraions only add to the reader's understanding and amazement at how ingenious, hardworking, and skilled our early american ancestors were.

This book is a lesson in history, architecture, rustic art and building techniques. Mr. Sloanes drawings and prints are by themselves wonderful. Additional dividends are his explanations of *why* things were as they were and *how* they were made so. Drawings and explanations of building techniques show how these wondrous buildings were developed and constructed through the ages. Included are tools, techniques and development of timber framed buildings. Enjoy!

This book is loaded with great illustrations of the tools and uses of woodworkers and farmers of old. A fast read and a valuable resourse tool you will be using for years to come.

Eric Sloane has established himself as an authority of Early Americana. This book explains some of the (almost) lost traditions and uses associated with the forests and trees that America was built from. Through his narrative of taking down an old barn, Sloane explains many of the old methods of construction, tool making and the uses of various types of wood. This book helps preserve some of the folklore as well as the intricate knowledge of wood from a time when trees were more than just landscape amenities.

No truer words were ever spoken when it comes to summarizing the content of this magnificent book. Eric Sloane describes the seasons of the early American way of life in a most revealing and splendid fashion. Beginning with the month of March: spring - the New Year according to the seasons; Sloane takes the reader through a year full of the sowing and reaping of the harvest in its season.

This is an easy read that yet conveys quite a bit of information. An important part are the drawings, which say more than a thousand words. It is an atmosphere book, which lets the reader understand something of the relationship between the early Americans and their material (wood). It also shows that wood allows more uses than what passes for woodworking these days.

I am a little dubious about the inclusions of trees in the back. The author appears somewhat out of his depth here (he is no Peattie, not by a long way).

I was drawn to this book by it's illustrations. I do not look at this book as a field guide. It is not a book to take into the wilds and identify the surronding wood, but a book that celebrates the Tree and all it's beauty. The pen drawlings give an image of strength and beauty that spark the imagination. A flavor for the majestiy that the trees posses. This book is for pleasure and celebration of trees.

Eric Sloane was a painter of clouds and sky who built the Hall of Atmosphere in the American Museum of Natural History. He also wrote several books about weather. Later he produced manuals and three-dimensional models of weather phenomena for training military flyers during World War II.

His interest in weather drew him toward old diaries and almanacs that were filled with the weather lore of early American countrymen. And this, in turn, acquainted him with the countryman's reverence for wood.

One result was this wonderful book, whose prose is illustrated with more than 70 of Sloan's skilful pen-and-ink drawings. There's an excellent marriage between his writing and drawing. Just when you wonder exactly what some of his words might mean, along comes another drawing to make everything perfectly clear again. Many of the drawings are very detailed and packed with fascinating information about long ago wood lore.

If you like this book, you'll probably enjoy anything written by May Theilgaard Watts, a fine naturalist who knew how to draw. You may especially enjoy her "Reading the Landscape of America" at the same time as you enjoy Sloan's "Our Vanishing Landscape."

I had this book in an earlier edition (1970's?) and found it delightful. As a boy I pored over the text and line drawings to learn how farm life was 150 years hence (I grew up on a farm). The knowledge of the means of labor and variety of tools which were crafted and used has been with me since, and it is interesting to see some of those tools in antique stores and know exactly how they were used. It also has given me great insight into how my ancestors settled the regions were they made their homes, as my family history research progressed.

This was a great book about Noah and his father Issac and their encounters and troubles they have while building to improve their farm. I loved this book and will probably re-read it over and over again! One interesting thing was that Noah spelt peas wrong! It is also a love tale for those of you that like that type of thing.