Hopkins native’s new book rooted in columns

“Welts on Your Butt a Calf Could Suck” now available at the Nodaway News Leader office in Maryville

What started as a monthly column in the Nodaway News Leader has grown into a full-length book that’s now finding its way to readers across the country and right back home.

Tom Brand, a native of Hopkins and longtime farm broadcaster, has released “Welts on Your Butt a Calf Could Suck: Reflections on Faith, Family, and a Farm Kid’s Life,” a collection of humorous and heartfelt stories about growing up in rural Northwest Missouri. The book includes many themes familiar to local readers: livestock mishaps,
flashlight-holding misadventures and lessons learned one chore at a time.

The project grew directly from Brand’s weekly column, “That Hopkins Kid,” which he has written for the Nodaway News Leader.

“This book wouldn’t exist without the space Kay Wilson gave me in the Nodaway News Leader,” Brand says. “Writing those columns helped unlock memories I hadn’t thought about in decades. Kay opened the door, and the stories just kept walking through. I’m deeply grateful for her encouragement and her belief that everyday rural life is worth writing about.”

The book recently reached #1 on Amazon’s Rural Life Humor list and landed in the Top 25 for Parenting & Families Humor, connecting with readers across the country who see themselves in the simple, meaningful moments Brand recalls.

“This isn’t a memoir,” he adds. “It’s a memory collection. These are the stories that stick, not because they’re perfect, but because they’re real. And sometimes a little ridiculous.”

“Welts on Your Butt a Calf Could Suck” is published by Richardson & Company Press and printed in Missouri. Copies are available online at RichardsonPress.com, on Amazon, and now locally at the Nodaway News Leader office in Maryville.