Hey, Hey, Hay!

Every bale of hay has a little bit of summer sun stored in the heart of it— learn from a mother-daughter team how hay is made!

Feeding her horses one cold and wintry day, a girl thinks about all the hard work that went into the fresh-smelling bales she's using. The rhyming text and brilliant full-page paintings follow the girl and her mother through the summer as they cut, spread, dry and bale in the fields.

Mower blades slice through the grass./A new row falls with every pass./Next we spread the grass to dry./The tedder makes those grasses fly!

This celebration of summer, farming, and family, illustrated by Pura Belpré honor artist Joe Cepeda, includes a glossary of haymaking words, and a recipe for making your own switchel— a traditional farm drink, to cool you down in the summer heat.

A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year

Christy Mihaly writes articles, stories, essays, and poems for children. Her juvenile nonfiction books have been published by Focus, Rosen, and National Geographic Kids.

Joe Cepeda, recipient of a Pura Belpré honor, has illustrated many books for young people including ¡Vámonos! Let's Go! by Rene Colato Lainez  and Swing Sisters: The Story of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm by Karen Deans. He both wrote and illustrated the I Like to Read® titles I See, I Dig, and Up.