Children's Book Monday

Do you need a read-aloud for autumn? This one is our favorite, and we are currently reading it for our third fall in a row, it's that wonderful.

Farmer Boy
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Illustrated by Garth Williams

Didn't we all read the Little House series when we were growing up? It is such a joy now to share these with our little ones; to watch their eyes grow wide at descriptions of wolves howling outside the shanty, or lick their lips at the tantalizing descriptions of food tables, heavy laden with the firstfruits of the seasons.

Farmer Boy is the story of Almanzo Wilder, the man who married Laura Ingalls. Although this book spans all four seasons, we find that it is the first story we think of when the temperature dips, rain falls, and the nights grow colder near the end of September.

The book spans one year in Almanzo's life, and it begins when he is nearly nine (so, right between my two boys, which they think is marvelous!). I love how hard the children work, and how hard they play. How they respect their parents, and are honored right back with privileges they've earned because of their growing responsibilities.

You will positively drool over the descriptions of mealtime:

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 pale 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 waltermelon-rind pickles. He felt very comfortable inside. Slowly he ate a large piece of pumpkin pie.

I have to remind my boys during every reading, Yes, my dears, but they walked miles to and from school and spent the next hours until dusk working in the barn! They had to eat that much! (Almanzo often fell right to sleep there at the table following such a meal!)

And you all (even the children!) will appreciate the joy that Almanzo finds, even in his work:

That evening, Father said to Almanzo:
"Well, son, corn-husking's done. What say we make a bobsled for Star and Bright tomorrow?"
"Oh, Father!" Almanzo said. "Can I- will you let me haul wood from the timber this winter?"
Father's eyes twinkled. "What else would you need a bobsled for?" he asked.

Your entire family, even down to your three-year-olds, will enjoy hearing this book read aloud. Make it your tradition, whether it happens first thing in the morning or at the end of the day, following a lovely supper of your own. You will never forget that precious time.

Happy family reading!