Hope Road

Farmer Boy [Laura Ingalls Wilder]

Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder ****

The third book in the Little House on the Prairie series (and one of my favorites), Farmer Boy describes a year in the life of Almanzo Wilder, who was to become Laura Ingalls’ husband. At nine years old, Almanzo works hard on his family’s prosperous farm in New York state. He goes to school when he has to, but he also helps with the daily chores, and he plants, harvests, and threshes the fields, as well as training his own yoke of oxen and longing for a colt of his own to raise. He is a vital part of the fabric of his family’s farm life.

Farmer Boy is marked by Mrs. Wilder’s well-known simple and clear writing, and it is not without its literary beauty: “The sun was warm on their backs and the grass was cool under bare feet, and all their laughter was small in the wide, pleasant stillness of the green fields and meadows” (156). It is vividly described and filled with sensory experiences. Although the trademark descriptions of how a certain tool works, or how a piece of equipment is made, can be dry and difficult to understand, they are relatively brief and convey a sense of involvement with the farm life.

This is a warm, nostalgic, and classically American read.

Recommended age level: 5+. I think even a kindergartener would appreciate this book read aloud, and adults can enjoy it as well.