Since my first four children are boys, I thought Farmer Boy would be the perfect introduction for them to the works of Laura Ingalls Wilder. The hero of this story is Almanzo Wilder, a spunky country boy who is only 9 years old when the story opens.
Almanzo lives in New York State in the late 19th century with his mother and father, older brother Royal, and two sisters, Eliza Jane and Alice. Almanzo is the youngest. They live in the days of horse drawn carriages, home made dinners, no electricity and the one room school house.
Mrs. Wilder draws us into the story immediately with a dangerous situation in the school house. A new teacher is in town and he has to deal with the Hardscrabble boys. These are older boys, really young men, who have taunted and provoked previous teachers. They beat one teacher so badly that he died. Mild mannered Mr. Corse has taken the position and with the help of Almanzo’s dad, comes up with a very politically incorrect (by our standards) but effective way of dealing with these ruffians and saving the school year for the other children.
This is just one of the very exciting adventures in this book. I found as I was reading it to my children, that I could pick out virtually any chapter and find an exciting story that could stand by itself, with Almanzo right in the middle of it. From falling through the ice, to saving the crops from freezing, a mysterious stray dog, to trying to prove his maturity to Father, this book captivated my sons and even my 7-year-old daughter!
My kids particularly enjoyed Mrs. Wilder’s description of food and meals. She describes everything so wonderfully that you can almost smell the odors and taste the food.
“Almanzo ate the sweet, mellow baked beans. He ate the bit of salt pork that melted like cream in his mouth. He ate mealy boiled potatoes with brown ham-gravy. He ate the ham. He bit deep into velvety bread spread with sleek butter and he ate the crisp golden crust. He demolished a tall heap of pal mashed turnips and a hill of stewed yellow pumpkin. Then he sighed and tucked his napkin deeper into the neckband of his red waist. And he ate plum preserves and strawberry jam, and grape jelly and spiced watermelon-rind pickles. He felt very comfortable inside. Slowly he ate a large piece of pumpkin pie.”
Yum!!
What strikes me throughout the book was that there was a rhythm and circle to life that had to be followed for survival. When it was time to cut ice for the year, it was time to cut ice. If you waited too long or started too early, you would not have enough ice to last until next year. When it was time to plant, everyone worked to get the crops in. When it was time to harvest everyone worked hard then too. There was also no waist. Every bit of the crop was used. When a pig or a steer was butchered, all the parts of the animal were used for food, clothing and even making soap and candles.
Although Almanzo and his siblings work well together, they still have their squabbles. One of the more endearing parts of the book was an exchange between Eliza Jane and Almanzo that could have been real trouble for Almanzo, and upsetting for mother. However, but Eliza Jane out compassion for her brother and sorrow for her own part in it, makes things right.
The book has much humor in to. Our favorite part came in the end when the town tightwad tries to tip Almanzo with a nickel, and Almanzo quips that he wouldn’t take his nickel, because, “I can’t change it!”
For an authentic look at what life was like just before the 20th century, I would highly recommend this book. If I wanted to pass on the importance of hard work and preparation, I think Farmer Boy also illustrates those lessons well. But most importantly it’s an uplifting story of a family that works together as a team, and a little boy trying to grow-up and reach his dreams.
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