By Jim Luce

3.
I am six years old.
I live in the Midwest with my family in a white house.
I have a bike, a brother, and a sister.

4.
One of my favorite things to do is visit the Troxel’s farm.
The Troxel’s are friends of my mom and dad.
Their farm is very, very big.

5.
There are cows everywhere.
Once, I ask Mr. Troxel if they all have names.
He laughs.

6.
There are pigs, too.
They oink and eat and make a big mess.

7.
The Troxels have horses.
Georgia Troxel is older than me.
She helps me climb onto one and walks me around the pasture.

8.
Dale Troxel is older than me, too.
He shows me the swinging bridge over the creek.
I walk across it very carefully.

9.
Curtis is the oldest.
He is in charge of milking the cows.
He lets me try.
It is harder than it looks.

10.
My favorite place on the farm is the hay barn.

11.
There is a rope swing that hangs very high.
The older kids swing back and forth.
Then they let me try.

12.
They move the hay bales and build tunnels.
I crawl through them and come out dusty and smiling.

13.
Later, we eat behind the house at a picnic table.
There is a red-and-white checkered tablecloth.

14.
We eat hamburgers and drink cold milk.
There is corn on the cob, and I eat as much as I want.

15.
After we eat, we go back outside.

16.
We play hide-and-seek in the cornfield.
The corn is taller than me.
Once, I can’t find anyone, and I stand very still.

17.
The farm is hot in late summer.
There are flies and buzzing sounds everywhere.
We swim in the pond to cool off.

18.
There are apple trees near the edge of the yard.
I climb into the branches and look out.

19.
Rex the dog runs beside me wherever I go.
He always seems happy to see me.

20.
As the day gets quieter, the light turns soft and low.

21.
When it is time to leave, I don’t want to go.
The farm feels far away even before we reach the road.

22.
I know I will come back again.

Notes for you (not part of the book)

• This maps cleanly to a 24-page picture book with room for quiet spreads.
• The hay barn rope swing is the emotional apex.
• The picnic table is the resting heart.
• The ending holds longing without explanation.

If you want, next we can:

• map this exactly to page turns,
• write the one-page Visual Unification Brief, or
• prepare illustration prompts that stay painterly and coherent.