Farmer Boy
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Grades 4-8; Genre - Historical Fiction; GRL P; AR pts. 9.0
Nine-year-old Almanzo lives with his family on a big farm in New York State at the end of the nineteenth century where he raises his own two calves, helps cut ice and shear sheep, and longs for the day he can have his own colt.
Comprehension Questions
School Days
- How does Almanzo’s school compare to the school you go to? The boys sit on one side of the schoolhouse and girls sit on the other; it has all ages in one classroom and isn’t split into separate classes; three children cannot talk or move; the girls went to recess first for 15 minutes, then the boys would go to recess 15 minutes; if they are late, they get whipped p.1
Winter Evening
- Give two examples in this chapter that show you that Almanzo loves and respects his parents. He listens and obeys his Dad about the horses and not taking a lantern into the haymows; pleased with himself that his father recognized he was a good milker and he knew he would milk the cows that are difficult to milk now; he knew his father was a good and honest man; he felt his mother was beautiful and listened and obeyed her as well p.17
Winter Night
- What part of this chapter did you enjoy? Listen to your child’s answer p.30
Surprise
- How did Mr. Corse defend himself and “best” the big boys of the class? One at a time, he used a whip to wrap around them; using the whip, he moved them to the door and threw them out; three of the boys saw they were going to get thrown out with the whip and they jumped out of the window; Almanzo’s dad gave Mr. Corse the whip p.44
Birthday
- What was special about Almanzo’s birthday? His father made him a yoke for his two calves and a sled; he didn’t have to go to school; he could eat all the treats he wanted; he went sledding and started to train his calves; he helped his dad make a shingle p.49
Filling the Ice-House
- What did Almanzo’s family use as a refrigerator in the summer? The ice-house
- How did Almanzo help with the ice-house? He and Royal put saw dust between each block of ice and covered the ice blocks with 3” of sawdust p.72
- What do you talk about with your siblings as you work together? Listen to your child’s answer
- Describe the process Almanzo’s family used to take their baths on Saturday night. Almanzo and Royal hit icicles down from the kitchen eaves to fill the tub; Almanzo was the first to bath; Alice would empty his tub and fill her own; and each member of the family would take turns emptying the person’s tub that just bathed and then fill their own tub; this prevented the family from getting a cold p.82
Sunday
- Almanzo went to church in this chapter. Have you ever been to church? Describe your experience there. If not, then share what Almanzo did at his church. Almanzo sat and looked at the preacher during church; it was two hours long p.90
Breaking the Calves
- What lesson did Almanzo learn in this chapter? He needs to teach his calves how to follow commands while he is riding the sled p.105
Turn of the Year
- How did Almanzo’s family gather sugar for the year? They put taps on the trees and gathered sap; they boiled it to sugar; then they put it in buckets to harden p.110
Springtime
- List the vegetables Almanzo and his family planted in the spring? Potatoes, carrots, corn p.125
- Have you ever planted a seed? What type of plant was it? What did you need to do to help it grow? Water it and make sure it has sunlight. Listen to your child’s answer
Tin-Peddler
- What did Mother trade for the tin wear? Rags she made p.138
- Why didn’t Mr. Brown expect her to pay with money? Money was scarce in those days and goods were highly prized. Mother made the rags and they were important for Mr. Brown to have for his pans p.138
The Strange Dog
- Why do you think the dog stayed the night Father sold the horses? Listen to your child’s answer
- Why is it important the strange black dog came to Almanzo’s house? Whatever the reason, the dog stopped two men from robbing his family p.152
Sheep-Shearing
- How did Almanzo’s father give the sheep a bath? They put soap on the sheep and dragged it out into deep water and rubbed the wool of the sheep until the soap was rinsed out p.155
- What distracted Almanzo from his job and why was it a problem? He saw his cat run with a mouse in its mouth, and went to go see its new kittens; he got behind in his job p.158
Cold Snap
- Summarize this chapter. There was a cold snap the night before July 4th. Almanzo’s family had to take water and pour some over each corn plant to save it from the frost before the sun came up; once the sun hit the frozen plants, it would kill them, the water saved them; they only lost 1/4 acre and saved 2.75 acres p.163
Independence Day
- Define patriotism. The quality of being patriotic; devotion to and vigorous support for one's country.
- Why is patriotism important? 1) The country will benefit from the knowledge and skills of patriotic citizens as they show patriotism, hard work and loyalty. 2) The country will grow and succeed. 3) There will be peace and unity in the country.
- How did Almanzo’s family and town celebrate Independence Day? Dressed up in Sunday best; gathered in town; had a band that played and marched; said the pledge of allegiance; had political speakers; had a picnic together; American flags furling in the wind; lemonade stand; shot off cannons p.177
- How do you show patriotism for your country? Listen to your child’s answer.
- Why was it difficult for Almanzo to ask his father for a nickel? Respectable boys at that time didn’t ask their fathers for money p.182
- What did Almanzo learn in this chapter? Importance of earning money with hard work and how America was made p.177
Summer-Time
- What are two fond memories Almanzo made in this chapter? Going fishing with his father when it was raining and spending the day with his family berry picking p.195
Keeping House
- How was Eliza Jane a good sister in this chapter? She helped take care of the house with mother and father gone; she patched up the wallpaper when Almanzo made a black mark on the wall when he threw a paintbrush at her p.203
Early Harvest
- What does the word harvest mean?
- How did Almanzo help his family harvest their fields? He helped spread out hay and then stack it in the barn; helped bind oats and shock them (put stacks of grain around them to protect them from dew/rain); put rocks around the bean stakes and wrap bean stalks around them p.228
Late Harvest
- What’s the difference between the early harvest and late harvest? There was a rush to get everything into the barns so the frost wouldn’t ruin the crops; they harvested different crops; it was freezing cold while they worked p.240
County Fair
- When Almanzo won first prize for his pumpkin, why was he worried that he cheated? He had grown it with milk and realized that it may be against the rules p.273
- What gave Almanzo confidence that he hadn’t cheated? His father taught him how to grow the pumpkin, and his father wasn’t a cheater p.273
- Why did Almanzo grow tired of having a good time? He was used to working hard and accomplishing a lot throughout the day and he didn’t like that there wasn’t purpose to his days p.274
- Do you agree with Almanzo that three days at the fair was too much fun? Why, or why not? Listen to your child’s answer
Fall of the Year
- How did Father know it was going to snow without a weather channel or app to tell him? He knew what the weather felt like; he had learned throughout his life what different weather and pressure in the air felt like, just like he knew the ground was going to freeze earlier in the book p.277
- Why was it important for Almanzo’s family to butcher the animals and make candles? To give them food and light throughout the winter and through to next fall p.284
Cobbler
- List two things from this chapter that we do not do anymore. Drink tea out of a saucer; have a cobbler come to our homes to make shoes; use a corn husker p.285
The Little Bobsled
- Why couldn’t Father and Almanzo work outside the next day? The storm would be too big p.304
Threshing
- Use a word to describe how Almanzo felt at the end of this chapter and explain why. Listen to your child’s answer p.311
Christmas
- Describe what your Christmas looks like and compare it to the one Almanzo celebrated in this chapter. What does Almanzo do differently? Listen to your child’s answer. Almanzo helped get everything ready on Christmas Eve; they went to bed and woke up really early (earlier than they were supposed to) and opened presents; they enjoyed their gifts and then got ready for family to come over; family came over and they had a big dinner; the cousins went out to play in the snow; they then came inside and had apple cider and ate apples; the cousins wrapped up and went home bundled up on their sleigh p.312
Wood-Hauling
- Summarize this chapter. Almanzo helped Father gather logs for firewood; he faced trials steering his calves, loading the logs and getting stuck in a snowdrift. His father gave him encouragement but let him figure out how to solve his predicaments. Share an experience where you learned something through sheer experience p.329
Mr. Thompson’s Pocketbook
- What good characteristic did Almanzo show in this chapter and how did it benefit him? He was honest with Mr. Thompson’s pocketbook; Mr. Paddock made sure that Mr. Thompson rewarded him with $200 p.354
Farmer Boy
- How did Almanzo tell Father that he wanted to be a farmer? He wanted to buy a colt and break it; this showed his father that he wanted to be on the farm just like him p.371
- What did you like about this story? Listen to your child’s answer.