I tell of a time, a place, and a way of life long gone. For many years I have had the urge to describe that treasure trove, lest it vanish forever. So, partly in response to the basic human instinct to share feelings and experiences, and partly for the sheer joy and excitement of it all, I report on my early life. It was quite a romp.So begins Mildred Kalish’s story of growing up on her … up on her grandparents’ Iowa farm during the depths of the Great Depression. With her father banished from the household for mysterious transgressions, five-year-old Mildred and her family could easily have been overwhelmed by the challenge of simply trying to survive. This, however, is not a tale of suffering.
Kalish counts herself among the lucky of that era. She had caring grandparents who possessed—and valiantly tried to impose—all the pioneer virtues of their forebears, teachers who inspired and befriended her, and a barnyard full of animals ready to be tamed and loved. She and her siblings and their cousins from the farm across the way played as hard as they worked, running barefoot through the fields, as free and wild as they dared.
Filled with recipes and how-tos for everything from catching and skinning a rabbit to preparing homemade skin and hair beautifiers, apple cream pie, and the world’s best head cheese (start by scrubbing the head of the pig until it is pink and clean), Little Heathens portrays a world of hardship and hard work tempered by simple rewards. There was the unsurpassed flavor of tender new dandelion greens harvested as soon as the snow melted; the taste of crystal clear marble-sized balls of honey robbed from a bumblebee nest; the sweet smell from the body of a lamb sleeping on sun-warmed grass; and the magical quality of oat shocking under the light of a full harvest moon.
Little Heathens offers a loving but realistic portrait of a “hearty-handshake Methodist” family that gave its members a remarkable legacy of kinship, kindness, and remembered pleasures. Recounted in a luminous narrative filled with tenderness and humor, Kalish’s memoir of her childhood shows how the right stuff can make even the bleakest of times seem like “quite a romp.”
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Take a trip back in time to when life was simpler but not always easier…when mayonnaise came from a couple of eggs, oil, and effort instead of out of a jar…when a mother’s sacrifice was a never to be forgotten lesson in thinking of others before oneself…and when despite all the hardships that life tossed out family was always a bedrock of …
I’m not one to write reviews, but this book was just ok.
I can relate to many of the stories in the book, as they are similar to experiences in my childhood.
This book recalled memories of a time gone by. I was especially interested in the descriptions of thrifty living and life without today’s technology. Probably best enjoyed by older persons, such as myself, and others interested in ‘how people lived’ in bygone times.
I enjoyed the authenticity of this book. I come from a long line of farmers. This book has historical/cultural/sociological importance because it depicts a way of life on the family farm that has actually disappeared somewhere between my parents’ generation and my own.
I am from Iowa, so the life the author writes about is familiar to me. I enjoyed the book, but I felt it dragged and became too preachy towards the end. That being said, I finished it anyway.
A fun read about growing up.
I so enjoyed this book!!
I loved this book. Her descriptions of people, places and things were among the best I have read. Her life parallels mine, so I enjoyed the many things we shared as she wrote about rural life during the great depression. I recommend it for the story and for the writing techniques.
Just loved immersing myself into Mildred Armstrong Kalish’s world as she grew up on an Iowa farm during the Great Depression Era. Though not all people were impoverished, nearly everyone had to watch every penny, not waste a scrap and pitch in to keep the farm and family afloat. Her family was not the Waltons — she had the social stigma of a …
This book was full of natural remedies for most any condition, health wise, one that amused me was using spider webs for splinters, having a barn or shed made them more accessible. Ha the care between dad and gramma house, strict versus freedom. Interesting reading
Enjoyed the read.
I loved this book and hated to see it end. What a wonderful glimpse into the Depression Era.
Cozy. Loved every word.
It is always fun to read about how a person was raised, espcially in a state where you come from. I also was raised on a farm and found that I had had similar experiences. great book
Takes you back to a nostalgic place.
My grandparents had a farm and as a young girl I would gather eggs, help feed young calves with a bottle,pick produce in their large gardens, gather eggs and watch my grandmother make mile high angel food cake. The book brought me back to my youth and reminded me of my grandparents and their life on the farm. It was a most enjoyable journey!
made me relive my youth
As a contemporary of the author and also a child of the Midwest, I could relate to almost every page. For me, a delightful and nostalgic romp back to a more innocent time.
Great story about growing up in the midwest on a farm. Hard work, great ethics, interesting situations!