Conner Hadley

This book has been an ongoing process for decades. From when it was first created to being published. The original story was first created by my grandfather, Eugene Carlson. He would tell all his kids this story when they were little as a fun story time. I first heard about this story in my early years of college at Utah State University. For one of my finals I created the cover for this book as my piece. This is when the creation of this book really took off. Ever since I first illustrated this cover, I wanted to finish the entire book. What really pushed me to make this book was to do it for my grandpa. He passed away shortly before I created the first cover. That is what inspired me to do this project. In my senior year of college, I had the chance to finish the book as another project. After calling and texting my family, none of them could remember how the story went. My grandpa always wanted this story to get published, but never made it happen in his lifetime. From the memories I have of my grandpa and the stories I’ve heard of his kind heart, I was inspired to write this book revolving around that idea. Having him be the main farmer at the end of the story. I just know my grandfather would have been proud to see this story come to life.