Too-small house,
big-big dream –
action time is now!
Reading an old magazine aloud to his grandmother, 12-year-old Boipele finds the most interesting story – a man in Canada began with a red paperclip and kept trading until he had a house!
He longs to get his father and grandmother out of this tiny two-room house in their dusty South African village where they have many friends, but no jobs.
Boi and his best friend Potso decide he can start trading with the clay cow they make, so Mrs. Viljoen gives them permission to place their poster outside her Cedarville Shop.
Once folks understand that Boi is trading for something “of greater value” everyone is talking about his swapping dream. For each new trade, Potso draws another clever poster.
As the swapping continues, their classmates prepare for the Talent Show, and little breezes of hope stir through the village, along with a newspaper reporter who wants Boi’s story!
Why are his village’s problems as big as Cedarvale Mountain?
Will lovely, kind Sesi in his grade ever notice Boi?
Can Boi truly swap his way to a house big enough for three?
Come over to Cedarville and meet all of Boi’s neighbors as this young man works to make his dream come true.
What would you trade Boi for his clay cow?
**kmm
Book info: The Cedarville Shop and the Wheelbarrow Swap / Bridget Krone; art by Karen Vermeulen. Catalyst Press, 2022. [author site] [artist site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.
