Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression
Book Review: My highest recommendation --ever!
Summary: 5 Stars
Millie is a gem. She has an amazing ability to recall and write about the details of her early life that most of us have long forgotten. But when you read her words and you happened to have some farm experience in your past, it all comes back -- wow, what a trip.
Thank you Millie for taking the time and effort to share your stories.
I'm going to pick this book for our book club and bake one of your pies for dessert.
What a delicious book! Certainly one my top ten ever.
DP
Book Review: A Time Capsule of Place and Time
Summary: 5 Stars
A wonderful remembrance of living on a farm during the depression. Although told from a somewhat detached viewpoint, the narrative remains interesting and informative. The recipes made my mouth water. Gotta try the shortcake. Book Review: Awesome history lesson
Summary: 5 Stars
Although of a different generation I have parents who lived through the depression, and not far from Garrison. This book echoes many of the stories I've heard in my family. It should remind us all how wasteful we are now and be a guide on how to be less so. Thank you Mrs. Kalish for this delightful history lesson.Book Review: Farm History With A Little More Heart and Humor Than Usual
Summary: 4 Stars
Mildred Armstrong Kalish's book "Little Heathens" is one of the finest recollections of farm history I've read. And I'm drawn to books of this sort. She has not only captured the details of that Depression-Era life, but has done so warmly and playfully. Sure it was hard and there was tragedy. That is in the book, but not at the expense of the fun and little joys her family and friends also experienced. That balance is honest and commendable. Too many who write books of this sort are determined to sound a single tone, be it bleak or sugary.
It's also helpful to have farm history recalled by someone who experienced it entirely. While men have written many fine accounts, their's often lack an appreciation of what went on in the house. This book includes farm history barn-to-kitchen.
Small things keep this from being perfect. (Petty complaints, I'll admit.) First, I would have preferred the recipes and remedies be tucked in a separate section of the book. They seem to disrupt the flow. Second, the grandparents do not come across as being so cold and austere as we're first lead to believe. Finally, the epilogue misfires just a little. The self-doubt seemed out-of-place for a woman who would one day write this fine book.
Book Review: A generation younger
Summary: 5 Stars
Besides being an enjoyable read, this is a very important ethnographic work documenting a piece of an era in U.S. history that left its mark not only on those who lived it, but on the generations that followed. I grew up on a farm in Southwestern Wisconsin in the 40s and 50s, a skip, hop and jump from the location of the communities described in this book. My parents experiences as children of the Depression carried over to the upbringing of the next (my) genration, as well. While reading, my mental reference was the old green shingled farm house where my grandparents lived just across the border in northern Illinois. It was equally as cold in winter as the ones described in this book. There was a big old iron cook stove in the kitchen; my Grandma made the best bread I've ever tasted and had the most diverse garden I've ever known. So many things written about in this book brought back wonderful and painful memories of growing up in the upper Midwest. I am going to keep this book on my cookbook shelves so, when the mood strikes, I might try to make homemade marshmallows! Thank you Mildred Armstrong Kalish, not only for the recipes, but for an important ethnographic and historical, yet thoroughly entertaining work.