Man of the Family

Rating:
Summary: Reading the Series
Review: Hooked by Little Britches, I am now reading the entire series. Although both Little Britches and Man of the Family are simply and unsentimentally written about the everyday dramas of a boy growing up in Colorado at the turn of the century, they surprised me by leaving me with a lump in my throat and anxious to read the next the installment in Mr. Moody's life. A good read and one that young people would enjoy and benefit from.


Rating:
Summary: My review by Josh
Review: Moody, Ralph. Man of the Family.
Norton: New York, 1951.

As soon as I started reading Man of the Family, I liked it because it takes you to the past.
One of the best things it does is creates good characters. Therefore you hate them, like them, but either way through that, you can make good connections. Also, what I really like is the dialog. The dialog is good because the characters talk different from us now and its fun to read with that in it. The book is never boring because of the realism in it. Your always asking what is going to happen, will the Moodys make enough money? Are they going to die? Its stuff like that that makes it interesting.
With the characters, dialog, and realism, Ralph Moody wrote a interesting book about himself in the past.


Rating:
Summary: Another Top-Notch Autobiographical Work by Ralph Moody
Review: The 'Little Britches' series is every bit as exciting, historical, and fascinating as the 'Little House on the Prarie' series, and Moody has even outdone Laura Wilder in his characterization of great American values like hard work, independence, and respect.

Continuing on after the death of father in 'Little Britches', the second book in the series tells how the Moody family pulled together to survive in turn-of-the century Littleton, Colorado. From using stilts to become the best fruit pickers in town, to outsmarting the manager of the finest hotel in Denver, to trading free coal for a Christmas goose, Moody brings the reader right into this frontier family.

My children, ages 4 to 14, all sat in rapt attention as I read from this book, and every chapter was ended with cries of "just one more, Dad, please!"