Children’s author Rebecca Victor has written a terrific new children’s book called Ellie the Crop Duster Saves the Farm! The theme of the illustrated book is about the importance of aerial application to crop protection and combating fires—as well as the importance of farm animals. Ellie the Crop Duster Saves the Farm! is the first in a series of aviation-themed children’s books written by Victor. Each of the books is named after one of her three daughters.
Rebecca grew up and is now raising her own daughters in a small farming community in Northeastern Colorado. Although her formal education is in the dental field as a dental hygienist, literacy and agriculture have always been a big part of her life.
Rebecca’s parents moved out to the farm in Wiggins from Denver when she was just 4 years old. The first thing she did was lead her younger siblings through the biggest, muddiest puddle she could find!
Growing up on a small farm and ranch, Rebecca’s family didn’t start with much, but what they did have was adventures on the farm and stories. As a little girl she remembers laying on the floor crammed in the living room of their 900-square-foot farmhouse when her cousins would come to visit them from Kansas and listen to her mom and aunt reminisce of days gone by on the family’s Buckingham Ranch.
Stories were also Rebecca’s favorite part of the holidays when her grandparents would visit and fill her eager ears with their experiences from their childhoods. Adventures of almost burning the precious chicken coop down, to sticking cold feet in cow patties to get warm during wintery morning chores, of spending all day hoeing sugar beet rows for a nickel a day, and looking forward to their only sweets at the holidays of peppermint sticks and oranges.
When asked why airplanes are the inspiration for the main characters in her first series of books, the answer is simply Rebecca’s daughter Tessa. Tessa has always loved toys and stories that reflect modes of transportation, planes among them. However, during their many trips to the library and scouring the internet for new airplane books, Rebecca decided she could write her own, so she did.
A fun fact about Ellie’s book is the characters in the book are based off of her own farmyard animals. Penny Weber, the illustrator, even illustrated Rebecca’s mom in the pumpkin patch scene toward the end of the story, and the funny sayings are things her mom and grandma Shirley say.
Due to the overwhelming support from the agricultural community, Rebecca has plans to continue writing and hopes to complete another book featuring Ellie and her silly co-pilot Miss Frizzle to be released next year.
To order copies of Ellie The Crop Duster Saves The Farm, keep up to date with the newest releases and print free activity sheets that go with the story, visit rebeccavictorbooks.com.
