Home in the Woods by Eliza Wheeler is a must-have picture book in every upper elementary and middle school classroom. Somber, serious, hopeful, and full of heart, this story will teach readers about the Great Depression, the struggle of a single mother with eight children, and how one family can not only survive but thrive in less-than-perfect circumstances.
When I first read this book, the illustrations pulled me in right away. The author and illustrator, Eliza Wheeler, used a similar color palette throughout, evoking a whimsical yet haunting mood to match the tone of the weighty world the family was living in. The moody images played into the magic of simple living, gratefulness for the little things, and a deep hope for better, also surrounding the story and its illustrations.
Why This Book Works for ELA and Social Studies Integration
If you are searching for Great Depression books for kids, historical fiction picture books, or a read-aloud that connects literature with American history, this book is it.
Home in the Woods is not your typical picture book. It is a true story based on the author’s grandmother’s childhood, in which her seven siblings and her newly widowed mother move into a shack deep in the woods of Wisconsin one summer during the Great Depression. The children, ages 14 years old to 3 months old, and their mother must learn to live and make do in this small home, with very few resources. Relying on ingenuity, the nature surrounding them, and the kindness of neighbors, the family turns this one-room shack into a cozy, loving home full of life, food, and happiness.
Literature Meets History
Students can learn so much from this story. Not only will readers learn how the Great Depression and poverty affect this family, but they will also understand how a family turned a bad circumstance into one of the greatest memories of their lives. Students will learn to be even more appreciative of their own lives as they read how Marvel, the narrator, and her siblings are grateful despite living with very little and can even have fun in the midst of hardship.
Home in the Woods is told in a seasonal sequence, beginning in the summertime. Eliza Wheeler takes readers on a journey through an almost-year as the family learns to cope with each season’s blessings and obstacles.
The family plants a garden in the summer, picks wild berries, and the kids enjoy running through deer trails and playing in the trees. As autumn comes along, the family prepares for winter by splitting wood and also enjoying the harvest of their garden. Marvel and her siblings play general store outside and make the best of their imaginations in the crisp coolness of fall. In the winter, they hunker down in front of their fireplace and enjoy quilting while the older boys hunt for food. Finally, the story ends in springtime. There is a symbolic meaning in ending the story in spring. Readers can see the way the family has grown closer and grown stronger, all while embracing hope, happiness, and a new life that their year of struggle brought them.
We highly recommend using Home in the Woods in the upper elementary and middle school classroom as a cross-curricular opportunity merging literacy and history. We have created 5 unique, hands-on activities to teach Home in the Woods.
5 Hands-On Great Depression Activities Students Will Remember
#1 Shoebox Diorama Project
The house the family lives in is central to the plot of Home in the Woods. Through the fantastic illustrations, readers see the changes the one-room shack undergoes and how the family turns it into a sweet and snug home with hard work and heart. Task students with recreating the very home in Home in the Woods in a shoebox diorama project.
Students can use craft materials, LEGO blocks, dollhouse furniture, and their creativity to craft the inside of the home. By using the book’s illustrations and wonderful descriptions, students can create a detailed replica of Marvel’s home in this hands-on project, all while demonstrating understanding of the setting and the main heart of the story.
This project includes directions and requirements, a sketch sheet, and a full rubric in our Home in the Woods Book Companion.
#2 Great Depression Cookbook Project
One of the biggest challenges the family faces in the book is how to eat and survive with very little income to buy food. The family relies on their environment to do so. With wild berries in abundance, Mum makes and cans jams. In the woods, the older boys hunt for meat. With rich soil and a big garden, the family grows vegetables and cans them for the winter. Surviving during the Great Depression took willpower, determination, and ingenuity to live off the earth and create meals from scratch, a practice and skill we take for granted.
Task students with learning the history behind Great Depression meals with a cookbook project. Students research and create a cookbook with 5 Depression-era recipes. They can also dive into using their artistic skills to make the cookbook look like it could be from the 1930s with old-timey decorations and illustrations. Students can even earn extra points by cooking one of their recipes. They will learn how their great-grandparents lived during the Great Depression and how Marvel and her family used their resourcefulness.
This full cookbook project, including research sheets, cookbook templates, and a full rubric, is available in our Home in the Woods Book Companion.
Additionally, in our Book Companion, we feature a simple recipe for Mum’s berry jam. Students can make homemade jam and answer questions about the historical connections to the book. This hands-on activity is a fun way to engage with Home in the Woods.
#3 Trading & Bartering in the Great Depression Interactive Activity
In the book, the family trades their Mum’s berry jam and homemade bread to get fresh milk and eggs at their neighbor’s farm. Trading and bartering in the Great Depression was a helpful and practical practice that helped families survive.
Allow students to experience trading and bartering in this fun, hands-on, and interactive activity. Students receive a list of items they currently have and what they need to trade for. Included with the list are pictures of the items they have. Included in the activity are two sets of lists, so students can interactively trade and barter with each other. This is such a neat experience as students walk up to classmates with their list and pictures and discuss, barter, and trade to get what they need.
The activity includes detailed directions, lists, pictures, trading recording sheets, and a nonfiction article about trading in the Great Depression. This full interactive activity is in our Home in the Woods Book Companion.
#4 Oral History: Keeping Traditions Alive
In the Author’s Note of Home in the Woods, Eliza Wheeler, the author and illustrator, details how the book was born from the oral history of her grandmother Marvel’s stories of her childhood. Her great-uncles and great-aunts also contributed to recalling the history of their childhoods for the book, Home in the Woods.
Eliza Wheeler details the importance of oral history, stating, “This book is inspired not only by the stories from their childhood, but by the entire generation that experienced the Great Depression. They will soon be gone, and if we haven’t yet collected their stories, the time is now.”
Watch this video to learn more:
In this classroom activity, students connect deeply with the book by interviewing a family member about a story from their life and recording their answers. Students turn oral history into written history in this activity and relate profoundly to the heart of the book.
This activity is found in our Home in the Woods Book Companion.
#5 Theme & Symbolism Quilt
During the Great Depression, quilting was an important part of life for many families. When money was scarce, families often saved old clothing, blankets, and scraps of fabric and turned them into warm quilts instead of buying new ones. Quilts could keep families warm, protect beds, and provide comfort during difficult times. In Home in the Woods, the family makes the most of what they have as they build their new life in the woods. Mum sews scraps together to make colored patchwork, which are quilts.
In this project, students combine literacy with art. They receive a quilt square to decorate with various symbols used to describe themes in the story.
For instance, a quilt square could contain a picture of a leaf, which was present in the story as the kids loved to play in nature. This leaf was symbolic of change as well, as the leaves change colors during the seasons. A theme of Home in the Woods is embracing change.
Students can combine the quilt squares to create a collaborative classroom quilt.
This full project and quilt square template is in our Home in the Woods Book Companion.
More about the Home in the Woods Book Companion
This Home in the Woods book companion explores the novel through a variety of reading, writing, history, research, and hands-on activities. Students learn about life during the Great Depression through nonfiction reading, trading and bartering, food and recipes, and research projects while making connections to the experiences of Marvel and her family.
Creative activities include a shoebox diorama, a Depression-era cookbook, a symbolism quilt, diary entries, a family oral history interview, and a memory box.
Students also examine the author’s use of figurative language and vivid imagery, explore the role of nature in the story, and make personal connections to Marvel’s experiences in the woods.
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Conclusion:
Perhaps what makes Home in the Woods so special is that, long after students close the book, its message stays with them. Marvel’s family did not have much, but they found ways to make a home. They found joy in the woods, gratitude in simple things, and strength in one another. Their story reminds us that a meaningful life is not measured by how much we have, but by what we do with what we have and who we share it with.
For students, Home in the Woods opens the door to important conversations about history, hardship, resilience, gratitude, family, and hope. It allows them to look at the past through a child’s eyes while reflecting on their own lives today. Most of all, Marvel’s story reminds us that even in the hardest seasons, there can be beauty, love, laughter, and hope, and sometimes, those are the things we remember most.
