Farmer Boy

Little House on the Prairie Wiki

Farmer Boy
Author	Laura Ingalls Wilder
Publisher	Harper & Brothers Scholastic
Published	1933
ISBN	0060581824

Farmer Boy is the second book in the Little House on the Prairie book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It was published in 1933 and originally illustrated by Helen Sewell, drawings by Garth Williams were added to the later editions. The book tells all about the childhood of Laura Ingalls Wilder's future husband, Almanzo James Wilder.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Chapters 2.1 School Days 2.2 Winter Evening 2.3 Winter Night 2.4 Surprise 2.5 Birthday 2.6 Filling the Ice-House 2.7 Saturday Night 2.8 Sunday 2.9 Breaking the Calves 2.10 The Turn of the Year 2.11 Springtime 2.12 Tin-Peddler 2.13 The Strange Dog 2.14 Sheep-Sheering 2.15 Cold Snap 2.16 Independence Day 2.17 Summer-Time 2.18 Keeping House 2.19 Early Harvest 3 Little House Books 4 External links

[edit] Plot

Farmer Boy is based on the childhood of Laura's husband, Almanzo Wilder, who grew up in the 1860's near the town of Burke in upstate New York. The book covers one year in Almanzo's life, beginning just before his ninth birthday, and describes in detail the endless chores involved in running the Wilder family farm. Young as he is, Almanzo rises before five a.m. every day to milk several cows and feed stock. In the growing season, he plants and tends crops; in winter, he hauls logs, helps fill the ice house, trains a team of young oxen, and sometimes – when his father can spare him – goes to school. The novel includes stories of Almanzo's brother Royal and his sisters Eliza Jane and Alice, who are composites of a larger group of Wilder siblings.

Almanzo works hard to prove to his parents and older siblings that he is capable of greater responsibilities on the farm, despite his youth and small size. He loves horses, and his biggest dream is that someday his father might trust him enough to give him a horse of his own. His dream finally comes true when he goes to town with his father one day and a local wheelwright offers him an apprenticeship. His parents hope he'll become a farmer (Royal has already announced his intention to become a storekeeper), but ask him whether he wants to accept the wheelwright's offer. He exclaims incredulously "Can I really tell you what I want?" – then delights them both by asking for a colt of his own to train.

[edit] Chapters

[edit] School Days

[edit] Winter Evening

[edit] Winter Night

[edit] Surprise

[edit] Birthday

[edit] Filling the Ice-House

[edit] Saturday Night

[edit] Sunday

[edit] Breaking the Calves

[edit] The Turn of the Year

[edit] Springtime

[edit] Tin-Peddler

[edit] The Strange Dog

[edit] Sheep-Sheering

[edit] Cold Snap

[edit] Independence Day

[edit] Summer-Time

[edit] Keeping House

[edit] Early Harvest

[edit] Little House Books

• Little House in the Big Woods (1932)
• Farmer Boy (1933)
• Little House on the Prairie (1935)
• On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937)
• By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939)
• The Long Winter (1940)
• Little Town on the Prairie (1941)
• These Happy Golden Years (1943)
• The First Four Years (1968)

[edit] External links

• Farmer Boy at the Library of Congress