My annual re-read, this time with Heidi! :)My favorite of the Little House books from start to finish, but especially the chapter where Ma and Pa go away for a week and the house falls into disarray as the children eat cake, slice watermelon, blacken the parlor wall, and most importantly, use up all the sugar making ice cream. Still no other author has ever captured the life of pioneers in quite this way, and the good eats will make your mouth water!

Are you hungry yet?Much of Laura's childhood was spent in near-starvation. They always had something to eat but it was never enough. Thus when Laura wrote about Almanzo (her future husband)'s childhood, she focused on the most idyllic parts and what she wanted for her own childhood and her child - which was a full stomach and stable home. Almanzo simply ate. He ate ham and chicken and turkey, and dressing and cranberry jelly; he ate potatoes and gravy, succotash, baked beans and boiled beans and [...]

I loved all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, in particular "Little House in the Big Woods", "Little Town on the Prairie" and "These Happy Golden Years". They are books I can read and savor over and over again. But I just need to give a shout out to my absolute favorite Laura Ingalls Wilder book, and that is "Farmer Boy"--to me, Farmer Boy is the under-appreciated middle child of the Laura Ingalls collection. People forget about it just because it doesn't start with "Little" or end with "Prairie". [...]

SO MUCH WORK! And they all seem to enjoy it, even create MORE work for themselves instead of looking for opportunities to have some leisure time (or a nap at least). I would have never made it in those olden days. I am just too lazy.

Listened to ¾ of this in January, and now, two months later, finished it today, also in the car. And pretty much loved it. This is not about Laura's family, though it’s technically listed #3 IN the Little House on the Prairie series. It functions as a kind of contrast in that it is a wealthier farm life experience in New England vs. the Midwestern farm life Laura lived, seemingly near starvation. This book is about her future' husband Almanzo Wilder's family. As with Laura’s family, she des [...]

Much wailing and gnashing of teeth this morning as we finished Farmer Boy. My student could not believe it was over! Going to be hard to top this one in the coming months. Not sure how many times I have read this but I am thinking five. I believe after Little House in the Big Woods, it is the best book in the Little House series. Goodbye, Almanzo. Not sure when we will meet again.

Upon finishing Little House on the Prairie the kids and I were dying to know where the Ingalls' adventures would take them next but discovered that the next in the series focuses on Almanzo Wilder, Laura's future husband. We were immediately taken in by the descriptions of late 1800's farm life in upper New York State. We were struck in particular by the richness Almanzo's family enjoyed in comparison with the Ingalls who seemed to be moving all the time. One of my favorite features of this book [...]

Before I hand the reviewing reigns over to Eleanor, I wanted to say a couple things I took out of this book. (Hopefully she doesn't get too impatient.)There's a lot in the Laura Ingalls Wilder books written for adults as well as kids. The theme of self-reliance comes through loud and clear. The difference in child-rearing wow. Hold on:Me: Eleanor, what does it mean to "speak when spoken to?"E: It means, "BE QUIET UNTIL YOU ARE SPOKEN TO!!!"Me: Do you think we should make that a rule in our house [...]

This one and Little House on the Prairie will forever be some of my favorite childhood stories. It tells of such a realistic story, but with such a beautifully innocent touch that I think really complemented the setting and made the story unforgettable.

I still didn't love it as well the first few books about Laura's childhood, perhaps because I know and love the Little House stories so well from my own childhood (I know my mom read me "Farmer Boy" but I don't really remember it). That said, I did quite enjoy and appreciate Almanzo's story this time and feel Laura deftly articulated his conundrums being on the cusp of boyhood and young-manhood, both his eagerness to do the more adult work on the farm with his father and older brother as well as [...]

I liked this way more than I thought I would. Some quick observations:1. All this family does is eat and talk about eating and plan around eating. 2. The parents go on a "vacation" for a week to a family's residence 10 miles away and leave the kids alone. Sheer chaos, of course, on the part of the kids. 3. Almanzo's family is way richer than Laura's, but they also seem to work more. Everything is about the value of money to them, which, when they're not eating or talking about eating, is the thi [...]

I loved these farm stories told from 9-year-old Almanzo's point of view. I don't think I read this book when I was young, but it was delightful to read it as an adult.My father grew up on a farm, and I inherited his pride in what farmers have accomplished. I liked this quote, spoken by Almanzo's father:"A farmer depends on himself, and the land and the weather. If you're a farmer, you raise what you eat, you raise what you wear, and you keep warm with wood out of your own timber. You work hard, [...]

This one makes me think my kids don't do enough chores around the house!My review:Farmer Boy

#3 Farmer Boy - August 2011I listened to Farmer Boy for the most part, only read a chapter or two in the middle on my own. I enjoy the book so much more read by Cherry Jones rather than my own voice in my brain. She makes me feel so cozy and I'm swept back in time. I don't think I ever read Farmer Boy when I was young, only the books starring Laura. I can't believe how hard Almanzo had to work at such a young age. And he enjoyed the work! And I really can't believe how much he ate! So much food! [...]

Continuing my re-read of the Little House books, I was shocked to discover that my copy of this one is also sans cover, as I really didn't have a memory of much that happened. I remembered Star and Bright, and Manley's siblings, but that was about it. It makes an interesting contrast between his upbringing and Laura's much poorer and much more Puritan background.It's also a good reminder of how much hard farm work will allow you to eat :) I also appreciated that he wasn't good, good, good, and h [...]

Wowey ate so much! I'm pretty sure that there was pie at every meal. Really this book centers on food - growing it, raising it, harvesting it, preparing it, and eating it. Boy do I take a lot for granted! I loved the look at a prosperous farm - from the filling the ice house to eating the pie :)

Read a few years ago

#lerlauraingallswilder #projetoumacasanapradaria ❤️

Reread aloud to kids for the umpteenth time in 34 years. Still good.

এটা ওর খেলা। অন্যের খেলায় কখনও নিজের টাকা বাজি ধরতে নেই।ভীষণ মিষ্টি, ভীষণ সুস্বাদু--বই, অনুবাদ দুটোই। দ্বিতীয় পাঠেও প্রথম পাঠের আবেদন একটুও মলিন হয়নি।

Almanzo Wilder will eventually become Laura Ingalls' husband. In Farmer Boy, he is 9/10 years old and works on his family farm in upstate New York. As with the prior two books in the series, this one focuses on 'a year in the life'. While still interesting and heart-warming, this installment is my least favorite so far. With the Ingalls family story, the reader always wonders what will happen next and if all will turn out well for them. For the Wilder's however, things are a little easier. Alman [...]

Full review at Smoke & Mirrors: books-n-music/201. Oh, my! I loved this book so much more than the first two in this series! I am a farm/country girl, and as a child I always enjoyed "boy" activities so much more than typical "girl" activities! I was right in there with poor Almanzo, though I have no siblings so therefore had no direct experience regarding getting along with brothers and sisters, I could relate to the frustration of having to always "wait" until he was older, more responsibl [...]

February 2018- Listened on Audible with the kids. Kai loved it! We had lots to talk about. Eve still doesn’t have the attention span for long readings on Audible (she’s my daughter and likes to talk 😉) but she liked parts of it and listened more than usual. May 2017- Such a great, classic story. I am sad I never experienced these books as a child and will be sure to expose my kids to them. I think I will read this one to Kai soon. There is so much to learn here and it's such a fun story. [...]

Reread January 2, 2017.It's funny, as a kid, what I remembered most about this book was Almanzo's whip. This time reading as an adult, I especially noticed the disparity of wealth between Almanzo's upbringing and Laura's. Also, I can't believe Almanzo's parents left the kids alone for a week to run the farm! I can't imagine how good of a vacation it was to go to your sibling's farm (ten miles away), where surely you were helping do all of the chores you would have been doing on your own farm. Gu [...]

Owen: I liked when they found Mr. Thompson's pocketbook, and I liked when the shoemaker came. I liked when his parents went on vacation, and when Almanzo's teacher whipped up those mean kids. I liked Almanzo. It was interesting when Almanzo was teaching the cows. I think I would like to be a farmer boy. I wouldn't like all the chores, but I would like the animals, especially the colts. Mom: This was a great book to read with Owen. It was fun learning about farm life. Almanzo and his dad were rea [...]

This was a fun book. I would of given it 5 stars. But I found the end really boring. But over all it was good.

372 pages. This a long, long book but is a wonderful peek at the pioneer days. Almonzo's story is told as he grows up on a farm in New York. It is very detailed with so many processes cooking and food, daily chores and basic rearing/expectations of children in those days. Almonzo went on to marry Laura in real lifeHighly recommended for Grade 4-5.

Book on CD read by Cherry Jones Considered Book # 3 in the Little House series, this book is about a young boy growing up on a farm in upstate New York. Almonzo Wilder will eventually find his way to Laura’s part of the country, but for now he is just starting school and eager to be allowed to work the horses. He’s certain that he would be gentle and never startle them, but Father won’t let him near the prize colts. In the meantime Almonzo learns to farm. The book covers about eighteen mon [...]

I think I actually liked this one a little better than Little House in the Big Woods. The Ingalls are subsistence farmers, basically getting by enough to deal with the increasing needs of their family as they grow. The Wilders are still very hard working farmers, but they are actually producing cash crops, and doing well enough to send their oldest kids to "The Academy". This appeals to the simplistic idea of progress I used to have as a kid. That to just get by wasn't enough. As an adult, I see [...]

Just finished reading this to the kids today. Such a pleasant look into a life that we know so little about! Almonzo is growing up on a farm in the late 1800's in NY state. He works from morning till night learning all sorts of life skills- amazing for an 8-10 year old boy. My kids enjoyed learning about all of his jobs and we all enjoyed reading about the food. Oh.My.Word. the food. Can we please start having Thanksgiving Dinner every meal?! ;)