Farmer Boy (Little House, 2) Paperback – April 8, 2008

Meet Almanzo Wilder, years before he headed west and met Laura. This is the story of his childhood, and the events and people that shaped him into the man he would become. Here Almanzo lives on a big farm in New York state owned by his father. His father is a wealthy farmer, but the family works tirelessly to maintain that status. They are self-sustaining: sowing and reaping crops, building/making most of their own equipment and goods, raising livestock, and training horses and oxen. Almanzo wants nothing more than to follow in his father's footsteps, even as his older brother Royal begins to yearn for town life. He begrudges his schooling as something that gets in the way of becoming proficient on the farm, but his parents impress upon him that even farmers need an education. Still. When it's time to work the fields, everyone stays home from school and pitches in. It's a hard life, but it's a clean and proud one as well.Farmer Boy describes farm life in vivid detail, with an exceptionally strong focus on food. Seriously, the detailed descriptions of food, both in how it was prepared and in how it looked, smelled, and tasted once on the table, are mouthwatering. How things were built is also quite descriptive, with everything except dimensions spelled out as Father builds a bobsled for Almanzo to begin helping with hauling timber. It's a cheerful and optimistic look at the hard life of farming, and while the great effort and long days required of a farmer are well-covered here, there is none of the scarcity or hardship that many of the other Little House books depict. Almanzo's childhood sounds ideal, but it's really only a couple of years that are included in this book, so it makes sense that Laura only focused on the period of time she felt stood out from her own childhood. It's a heartwarming book that teaches a sense of family, hard work, and responsibility.

My seven year old and I both loved this book! It’s just perfect and lovely and invites great conversation about the past and how the world has changed.

I read my first Little House book at age of 8. I'm now 63 and I love these books!Farmer Boy is about Almonzo's boyhood. He worked hard and even at age 9 he was out plowing field's. I can't imagine most 9 year Olds knows what that means now a days. They like Nintendo more than the outdoors.I totally recommend this book and all the others in the series. No matter what your age is!

I ended up buying the entire 9 hardcover book series and find they are the perfect size to make a nice display on my shelf. Print quality is nice, and the typeface is easy to read. I'm in my 40s and have loved the TV series since the 80s and find myself rewatching the episodes on Amazon Prime which has sparked my interest to finally sit down to read the books.

My happiest memories of this book is sitting around the fire, reading to my teenage sons, bigger than me by then, and them begging me, 'Read just one more chapter, mom!'. I kept reading until I was hoarse! Wholesome, real, educational, nail biting here and there, but ALWAYS the happy endings! Shows this 'in the dark' generation what real work is all about, in a charming way!!!

Good read

I've had a copy of this book for probably 30 years or more and it has finally fallen apart. I bought this one to replace it. I was worried that it might have some of the content or illustrations cut out, but it's a full copy with everything in it. My third grade teacher read this to the class back in the 1960s. At the time, it was just an interesting way to learn about farm life in the mid-1800s. As an adult, the entire series is a commentary on the history of the United States at that time. Several major historical events are talked about through the eyes of someone who lived through them. The series touches on the Grasshopper Plague of 1874, the Homestead Act of 1862, the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862, and the Dakota War of 1862. While the author has received some criticism for the prevalent racist attitudes of the day, this is a worthy way to teach children about the second half of the 1800s, especially if you can also give additional information about the historical events that occurred during that period of history and you can examine the racist attitudes critically. I am currently using this series to teach a bit about American history to some teens living in Uganda.

Clean, pure story for kids, my duaghter is reading it, very cute, worth the read!

The 4th of July chapter is something I remember being read to when young. I never forgot it, and doubt I ever will. It's a great story to read to kids, and our generation should benefit more from lessons such as this one. Still haven't read the whole book, but even if the other chapters are half as good as the 4th of July, it'll still be very good.

This book is great. I loved it growing up, and I’m reading it aloud to my boys (7 and 9). They read well, and could read this on their own, but I read to them every night all together. It is a perfect book for this age range, and so interesting for them to understand what life was like so long ago for farmers settling in America. They keep begging me to read more chapters!

I want the whole book, not just the list of contents!

Lovely, fascinating for any age

Good book for 9-10 yr olds