Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Rating: Needs Parent Supervision (but still recommended!)

Reading Level: Early Elementary, Mid-Elementary

If you read the below list of potential concerns that require parent supervision for Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Farmer Boy, you might wonder why I would even recommend it at all! But the pioneer life is so enchanting, the main character, Almanzo, is so honest and his love for animals so charming, moreover he respects his parents so well. As if that weren’t enough, it is a good look into some history of our country. My biggest hesitation is around the treatment of Native Americans, which I think it worthy of discussion.

Here are some potential concerns:

• Some bully boys beat a teacher dead (and show no remorse!). The next teacher almost literally whips those boys into shape.
• When boys disobey they are hit with the “switch.”
• Almanzo slipped on ice and would have died if not for grace.
• The father mentions that he thinks it’s ok to bet, but you get a quick run for you money & he’d rather use his money for longer-term gains.
• 3 references to Native Americans  that may be disrespectful: (1) “playing wild Indian,” (2) the farmers taking the land from the Indians (see excerpts in 2 photos below)… and…

…and (3) an Indian enters a horse race and performs amazing athletic feats in front of a crowd (see the last two excerpts). I’m not sure if this last one is disrespectful or not (is it more just admirable that an Indian was such an athletic champion?) but I’m sensitive to the fact that he entered a horse race (not a human one).

Also worth mentioning information that may be helpful:

• Dinner is the name for lunch, and it might be helpful to explain that to your kid to help them understand what is going on a bit better.
• There is a sweet story about how the Lord sent a stray dog to protect the family from swindlers.
• At one point Almanzo catches himself starting to lie but then comes clean about it right away.
• Sunday is solemn; sabbath is a boring rest, not a refreshing rest.
• the general belief that in many social settings children should be seen and not heard
• Almanzo doesn’t like school and prefers to stay at home & work on the farm with his father.
• A hot potato explodes in a fire and a piece hits Almanzo right in the eye.

To be perfectly honest, there were a lot of moments in Farmer Boy that involve technical descriptions of farming procedures that I didn’t understand.  Those parts might be difficult for a mildly devoted reader to persevere through.  Nevertheless, there was so much interesting to learn about the culture and the nature of farming that it was a wonderful read, save for concerns about indians mentioned above.