Starlight

In between its descriptions of delicious food, Laura Ingalls Wilder's Farmer Boy contains a lot of life lessons about Almanzo Wilder's growing-up years. One of my favorites appears in the final few chapters of the book. 

The original Helen Sewell cover for Farmer Boy

In the last chapter of the book, which is also called "Farmer Boy", Almanzo unexpectedly obtained $200 (a lot of money for such a young person at that time) and an offer of apprenticeship from the wheelwright Mr. Paddock. To find out how this happened, read the previous chapter "Mr. Thompson's Pocketbook", which has quite an exciting showdown scene in it. 

Because of this offer of apprenticeship, Almanzo and his parents needed to decide his future. And he was not even a teenager yet! Surprisingly, Father and Mother Wilder asked Almanzo's opinion on what he wants to do for a living. Almanzo decided that he wanted to be a farmer just like his father, and asked if he could buy a colt to raise with his money. 

Instead, Father gave him the colt he had had his eye on for a long time - Starlight. In this way, Almanzo got a start in farming and learned something about the value of saving money too. Later on, in chapter 10 of These Happy Golden Years, as he began courting Laura, he told her the story of how he gentled and raised Starlight. 

I love finding these little connections between the "Little House" books. For more trivia, factoids, and miscellany, come back to Little House Club Online soon! 

Elizabeth
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