Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers (Original 1950; 1991. Auflage)

Good story - similar to "Little House on the Prairie" series, but with a male main character. ( )

Ralph and his family move from the east coast to Colorado, per the convincing story of cousin Phil. When the family first arrived there was doubt, but they made the most of the shack they were to rent and make their home.
However, life got a little trickier and dangerous, when some of the ranchers started stealing water for the crops, and an irrigation war broke out.
( )

Ralph Moody was eight years old in 1906 when his family moved from New Hampshire to a Colorado ranch. Through his eyes we experience the pleasures and perils of ranching there early in the twentieth century. Auctions and roundups, family picnics, irrigation wars, tornadoes and wind storms give authentic color to Little Britches. So do adventures, wonderfully told, that equip Ralph to take his father's place when it becomes necessary.

first in a series, author recounts his boyhood circa 1910. Americana at its best. ( )

I found this ragged old copy of Ralph Moody's LITTLE BRITCHES at a local library sale. Bought it for my grandson, but my wife picked it up to look at it and ended up reading it straight through, and said, "You'd like this yourself. Try it." And so did I, read it straight through, I mean. It's that good a story. Ralph Moody's own story about growing up on a poor dry land Colorado ranch. It begins in 1906 when Ralph - the "Little Britches" of the story - was 8 years old and covers the next three years, telling the story of Charlie and Molly Moody's family of five children - Ralph was second oldest - trying to make a living after moving west from New Hampshire, looking for a dry healthy climate, where Charlie might recover from tuberculosis. Young Ralph wants to be a cowboy, and he makes a darn good start, learning to ride and handle a team of horses from the time he is 8 or nine. By the time he is eleven he has even learned some stunt riding and how to cut cattle under the tutelage of his sure-enough cowboy pal, Hi. He has also learned to drive a hay rake and plant vegetables and maintain a garden and build an outhouse and other rough carpentry - much of this from his father, who is very inventive and clever with his hands. He learns about breaking horses and rides in a rodeo before he is twelve. All of these things are related in simple straightforward storytelling that does not fail to delight and keeps you turning the pages wondering what will happen next. In other words, Ralph Moody tells a good story - his own. You will be reminded of Laura Ingalls Wilder's LITTLE HOUSE series of books. In fact, Moody wrote several more memoirs before he was finished, in addition to several historical novels for young people. In researching Moody (1898-1982) a little, I found it interesting that he did not begin to write until he was well past fifty. By then he had a wide variety of experiences to draw from and just kept on writing them down. Moody is such a natural story teller and engaging writer I am going to try to read some more of his stuff. LITTLE BRITCHES I will recommend highly. (And yes, we are giving it to our grandson to read. I hope he likes it as much as we did.) Oh, and P.S. The book was first published in 1950. In 1970, Disney adapted it for a film called THE WILD COUNTRY, starring Ronny Howard and his little brother, Clint. ( )