Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers

Spoiler alert: this review includes a description of the ending to the story.This story is about a family from East Rochester, New Hampshire who moves to the Denver area of Colorado in 1906. It is told through the eyes of the second oldest child, Ralph Moody, who was eight when the family moved west.The first challenge in the story is when the family arrives in Colorado and gets their first look at the “ranch” where they will live. To clarify, the property is not owned by the family. They are working it for the landlord.The house was a three-room cottage that had been moved from Denver. It sat at the corner of an unfenced quarter section of barren prairie land. The chimney had broken off and most of the windows were smashed. Inside, the floor was covered with broken glass, and plaster that had fallen off the ceiling.Ralph’s father was ready to turn around and take the family back east, but his mother had this to say: “The Bible says ‘trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.’ The hand of God has led us here; we have set our shoulders to the wheel, and we will not turn back.”Work began to rehab the house and build a privy. A couple of weeks later the family moved from a hotel room in Denver to the small house. Two old horses were acquired. Problems crop up on nearly every page as the family tries to make a life for themselves in Colorado.Thankfully, their neighbors, the Aultlands, were much better off, very friendly, and helpful.So many accidents happen throughout the story it seems that Ralph should have lost his life on more than one occasion. One accident involved two horses as they raked the windrows. Ralph broke nine of his toes.Water rights were always a problem at this ranch. The upstream ranchers got access to water first and were supposed to let it through to the downstream properties but often stole more than their share. Toward the end of the story Ralph’s father takes the upstream ranchers to court. Even though the settlement favored Ralph’s father and the other downstream ranchers, the amount of water allotted to the Moody ranch was only ten inches and therefore the payment was not sufficient for the family to remain there.Throughout the story, Ralph’s admiration for his father is always apparent. Even though his father was a man of few words, Ralph says they could have a “visit” with one another even in times of silence. When Ralph’s father did talk, his words bore a strong impact on Ralph, who always wished he could learn to speak as effectively as his father did.During Ralph’s three years on the ranch, he learns how to “break” a horse and trick ride his horse in competition. His skill wins him a gold watch at the Labor Day competition held in Littleton. Shortly afterward, the family moves to Littleton where Ralph’s father works as a construction boss on new houses.An accident involving a horse and carriage driven by Ralph’s father, and a horseless carriage that backfires and spooks the horse, gravely injured Ralph’s father. A short while later, he passed away leaving Ralph the man of the family at the age of eleven.

If I could give 10 stars to this book I would! I read Little Britches to my children ages 6 & 8 last year and we are now on the 7th book in the series (of 8 books). Little Britches (book 1) is still by far my favorite, but they are all wonderful. While we enjoyed Little House on the Prairie, I would say these rank even higher and they are especially good for boys (although my daughter and I love them just as much as my son). As a young man, Ralph Moody made himself a promise that he would save [...] by the time he was 50 years old and would write a book. This is the book he began on the eve of his 50th birthday. Ralph is 8 years old in this first book, in 1906 and his family has just moved west to help his father's tuberculosis (he's a "lunger" as the book says). They spend three years struggling to make a go of ranching and Ralph learns most of his lessons the hard way. His father, Charles, is a huge influence on Ralph. He is a patient, resourceful, upright man who is devoted to his family and to teaching his son to be a man of character. The book is never preachy however. All of the lessons are demonstrated but not outright told. My children get it though, even at their young ages! Even though the father is only in the first book, his presence is felt throughout the whole series in the lessons that Ralph learned from him ("always give a man a full day's work for a day's wage.")After reading it aloud to my kids, I purchased it on CD, read by Cameron Beirele  Father and I Were Ranchers (The Little Britches Series Book 1) [UNABRIDGED ] and they have worn it out listening to it in their rooms. Mr. Beirele does an excellent job doing the voices (book 6 six is a little different but still not bad). We now have all the books in print and audio CD (except book 8 which is seems you have to get as an MP3 download). My absolute favorites are the first 4 ( Little Britches: Man of the Family (The Little Britches Series) [UNABRIDGED ] The Home Ranch (Bison Book)  and  Mary Emma & Company (Bison Book) . The Fields of Home turns out good, but his crotchety old grandfather just about drove me crazy. Shaking the Nickel Bush is probably the least favorite. Ralph has a "buddy" named Lonnie that is a lazy leech and I kept preaching for Ralph to dump him through the whole book. When he is finally rid of him, he finds all of his savings is gone too. That one might be better read than listened to because the Lonnie character is grating and Mr. Beirele suddenly can't get situated on a voice for Ralph and it changes throughout the CD.I think these books should be required reading in every home in America. We need more everyday heros to emulate. Ralph was a dutiful, devoted son who was not afraid to write about the dumb things he did as well as the smart ones. Just be aware there is some "cowboy language" in most of the books. That's how I described it to my children and they understood - we are not cowboys. It is certainly mild by today's standards but still bears mentioning. The family is a family of faith and that is more impressionable than the language. Just d**n and h*ll is all I remember hearing.Some other Moody favorites are  Come on Seabiscuit! ; Stagecoach West ; and  Kit Carson and the Wild Frontier .

It's surprising to me that I went through my entire life loving the Little House on the Prairie books, and tales of the "olden days" in general, and yet never heard of Ralph Moody or his series of books which begins with this one, Little Britches.Little Britches is a true story. In the book, Ralph remembers the time when he was a young boy and his family moved west, to a ranch in Colorado, in the early 1900s. When they arrived, the "ranch" was not quite what they had expected, yet instead of complaining, they all buckled down and got to work to create a farm that their family could live off of, getting some help from kind neighbours along the way. Ralph worked hard too, and even helped with the family finances when he went to work herding cows - at age 9!Life held many challenges for the Moody family, but the way in which they pulled together, and loved each other, is truly inspiring. I especially enjoyed the scenes where the father was imparting wisdom to Ralph about what it means to be a man - an honest, hardworking man. Truly, there are some good lessons in this book, and I plan to read this book very soon with my own 9 year old son.I highly recommend this book as a family read aloud for older children (maybe 8 and up?), and as a good, touching book for anyone who enjoys stories from times past.

I fell in love with the Moody family when I read this book to my family. It is a habit in our house to read in the evening before bedtime (Just as Ralph's mother did) and I am always very picky about my choice of novels to read. I prefer non-fiction and historical novels that show a way of life and living unfamiliar to most of our generation. It nearly seems like fiction when you compare this 9 year old boy from 1908 to nine year old boys today. I never thought I would have any interest in a book about a boy who loved horses, but Mr. Moody has a way of grabbing your interest from the very beginning. I would have wanted Ralph as my own son. He was a not-so-flawless typical boy but had an inimitable charm, and a strong sense of respect for not only his parents, but his siblings as well. My two eight-year-old sons as well as my husband looked forward every evening to hearing a chapter and the three of them would often chant "one more, one more!" I was elated to find out that Ralph had written several books following and we have enjoyed the ones we have read so far. Not only were we entertained, we learned a lot of new (old) things. Unless you are only into unicorns, superheroes and zombies, I honestly believe that there is not one literate person who would not get something out of these amazing books.

Was a gift for my mother. She loved this book when she was younger.

I had heard about this series of books, so I just went on and looked for Ralp Moody books. It's new for the family but we absolutely love it. I will gladly recommend it as it's good reading for a family setting.

had to read a couple of chapters to get interesting but after that I look forward to reading more