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Summary: Life On A 19th Century Farm
Review: Farmer Boy
By Laura Ingalls Wilder
First published in 1933I read the book Farmer Boy. The main character is Almonzo Wilder. The book is about his farming family in the 19th century. I enjoyed the story because it has so much detail. It shows all of the chores that they did, and all of the food that they ate.
They had to get up at the crack of dawn to do their chores. Everyone in the family did different chores. Some of their chores were sheep shearing, cow milking, feeding chickens, training the calves to plow the field, filling the ice house and making all of their food and clothes.
My favorite chapter was titled County Fair. It was about when the Wilder family went to the fair, and tried to win all sorts of ribbons. They all worked very hard to get ready to go to the fair. They grew pumpkins and make spices. Almonzo's pumpkin won the blue ribbon.
They had everything at the fair. From horses to fair games. Almonzo's father would not let him play any of the fair games because he said "never bet money on another man's game''. Everyone had a great time at the fair.
I also liked when the mother and father went away for a week. The children were on their own. The kids did not do their chores. Instead, they made candy, cake and ice cream. Lucy the pig got some candy, and her mouth got stuck closed. They did their chores at the last minute before father and mother came home.
I would recommend Farmer Boy to a person who needed to do research on the 19th century, or anyone who wanted a book for pure enjoyment. I learned how hard life would be on a farm back in the 1800's, why children disliked school, and why they always were so well behaved. ...
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Summary: Farmer Boy Almanzo
Review: Farmer Boy
By: Alicia Farmer Boy is about a boy named Almanzo that wanted a colt really bad. He wanted one all through out the book. His father is like a firm and stern person, and Almanzo doesn't think he'll let him have one. Although his father is like that he is a good lesson teacher. He teaches him lots of things like what hardwork is and to be honest. He is a lot like his father. He makes and does the same things as him. One time he brakes his calves and entered his pumpkin in a contest. He also got a pig. When a potato hit him in the eye I hoped he was ok. You should read how Almanzo and his brothers and sisters helped each other, how they worked, and how they played.
I think Laura wanted to tell us that our dreams can come true and to keep believing. I think She wanted to let us understand what respect is and she taught a lot of good lessons in the book. Also what hardwork is and about farm life and how it was back then.
I liked the book because Laura Ingalls Wilder has a good description of her book. It made you want to be there and do it. Also to see if Almanzo's dream or wish would come true. It made me want to read it. Did Almanzo get what he wanted? Do you think his life is easy? What happened when a potato hit him? Did he win the contest? Read it and find out!
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Summary: Farmer Boy
Review: Farmer Boy
Farmer Boy is about life in the 1800's. It is about a boy named Almanzo Wilder and his family. It is also about life on his farm. Almanzo has always wanted to take care of the colts. But his father won't let him because he might ruin them.
I think the author, Laura Ingalls Wilder is trying to tell the readers that it was hard work back then because they didn't just go to the stores for stuff and everything isn't so easy. Also don't take things for granted. Hard work pays off because in this story and they are always proud of themselves when they are done.
I like this book because it involves a lot of hard work and discipline. Also because the author really describes everything! So if you want to know what happens at the end and see if Almanzo gets to break the colts. Read this book!
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Summary: Farmer Boy
Review: FARMER BOY
In Farmer Boy, written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, there is a boy named Almanzo Wilder. He is spunky and loved the farm life and especially horses and colts. His father owned and trained them. Almanzo always wanted a colt, but his father wouldn't let him have one. When he goes to the county fair he sees horses there. He asks if he gets a colt, he could take it to the fair next year.
I think that Laura tries to tell us that hard work and being responsible really do matter. Also that if you try you can accomplish anything you want to. I also think that she tries to show us how hard life was in the 1800's. When they needed milk they have to go out and milk the cow in the cold. They can't go to the store and buy a half- gallon of milk.
I really enjoyed reading this book because Laura gives good descriptions and words it very well. She also shows how hard farm life was back then. So does his responsibility pay off? Does he get a colt or not?
By: Maura
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Summary: Yikes!
Review: I've never read any of Wilder's books except this one. I've never even seen "Little House on the Prarie." The first thing I thought while reading this book is, "Did people really live like this?" Sure, the kids in the book had some fun, but mostly their lives were work, from sun up to sun down. The father, in the winter (40 degress below zero) had to get up at midnight and make the cows move around, otherwise they would freeze where they stood. Thank God for modern technology, which has made our lives so much more easy and pleasant. I recommend this novel for everyone. Wilder writes in a simple, sparse style, one you might call "Hemingway for children." Hard to believe people had to live like this, just in order to have enough to eat.
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Summary: One of the best from a great series!
Review: Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Farmer Boy" is a departure from the rest of the famed "Little House" books in that it does not relate the story of her own family's hardscrabble existence on the western frontier, but instead tells the story of her husband's boyhood on his family's prosperous farm in upstate New York. Thus, it introduces readers to an entirely new family, the Wilders, and the Ingalls family is not even mentioned. However, this is one of the best books of the "Little House" series.
"Farmer Boy" details a year or so in the life of 9 yr old Almanzo Wilder. A good deal of this book is spent showing that life on a farm in the 1860's, even for a well-to-do family living in a civilized part of the country, still meant never-ending, hard, physical labor. Young Almanzo and his siblings spend their lives working on one chore after another- the work changing as the seasons change. Undoubtedly, modern children will read this book and be thankful that they don't live in a time where sleeping in past 5 AM was considered odd and children were expected to be seen (at work) and not heard. In addition to describing day to day life on a farm, Mrs. Wilder also details the family relationships between the Wilders. Almanzo's parents are shown as loving, but, in contrast to Pa and Ma Ingalls, they come across as a little more stern and authoritarian with their children. For example, James Wilder, Almanzo's father, is always called "Father" never "Pa." Almanzo's relations with his three siblings are also described. (Almanzo actually had five siblings, but oldest sister, Laura, and younger brother, Perley, were left out of the book.) Almanzo looks up to his 13 yr old brother, Royal. Ten yr old sister Alice is shown as being very spunky and loveable and was obviously Almanzo's favorite sib. (Alice, who was a very pretty girl, died at a fairly young age and this book is her younger brother's tribute to her.) And finally there is Eliza Jane, age 12, who comes across as every younger brother's nightmare of a bossy older sister. It's obvious that Laura Ingalls Wilder did not care much for her sister-in-law Eliza Jane because she portrayed her pretty badly in her books. However, one of the great moments of "Farmer Boy" involves Eliza Jane showing in her own way how much she truly loved her younger brother. The wonderful descriptions of familial relationships in the "Little House" books are one of the big reasons why this series is so beloved. "Farmer Boy" exudes all the hallmarks of a great "Little House" book- the wonderfully detailed depiction of life on a farm, the loving but still realistic portrayal of family life, and it also exudes a warm-hearted sentiment for an era long gone. Yet, "Farmer Boy" shows some of the darker elements of mid-19th century life. An attempted burglary is a subject of one chapter and the book opens with a pretty scary depiction of an 1860's schoolhouse. The "Little House" books often present a fairly rosy picture of the one-room schoolhouse, yet "Farmer Boy" shows a darker side. In this book, the teenage sons of farmers are shown coming to school just to bust it up and pummel any teacher who gets in their way. Finally, as an Irish-American, I've always been amused by the unconcious bigotry towards Irish immigrants found in the "Little House" books. The few Irish characters in these books are either shown as fall-down drunks or as fools- read the story about cutting-ice in "Farmer Boy" to see an example. I don't think Laura Ingalls was anti-Irish, but just writing down 19th century attitudes about certain ethnic groups. She did the same thing for American Indians, but even more blatantly.
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Summary: The life of a boy on a farm in New York in the 1860s.
Review: This is the second book published in Laura Ingalls Wilder's (1867-1957) well-read series for children. However, it isn't concerned with the Ingalls family but rather the family of her future husband, Almanzo James Wilder (1857-1949). The story takes place near the town of Malone in upper New York near the Canadian border on the prosperous farm of the Wilder family and depicts the life of a nine/ten-year-old boy about 1866/1867. Besides Almanzo, the main characters are Almanzo's parents, James Mason Wilder (1813-1899) and Angelina Wilder (1821-1905), his brother Royal Gould Wilder (1847-1925), and his two sisters, Eliza Jane (1850-1930) and Alice (1853-1892). In this book, Almanzo realizes that what he wants to be is a farmer. That is what he enjoys and what he excells in. (I really can't understand the comments of the Feb. 14, 1999, reviewer from Toledo, Spain. What was the "misinterpretation of human nature"? This book for children is an account of what happened to the main character as related to the author by her husband!)
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