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Product Description: 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 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.”
From the Hardcover edition. Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-05
Fun little heathens
I read this from the library, then purchased a copy for my father-in-law, who lived through the depression. The writing style is straightforward with lovely language. Even though I've never lived in the midwest nor experienced depression living, it kept me interested. Wonderful anecdotes of kid sneakiness are described. Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-03
Full of sweet nostalgia
This book brought back a host of memories from my own Midwestern childhood, although mine took place nearly fifty years after hers. The author's simple, unadorned voice echoes the simplicity of her upbringing, and the effect is entirely charming. She has created quite a treasure that -- were it not for thorough first-hand accounts like this -- might be lost forever. Rating:
Date: 2008-07-01
Very Special Book
I had a feeling when I looked over the cover and liner notes of "Little Heathens" that I was in for a special treat. Luckily, my instinct was right. I am so glad I read this book. My wife and son read it right after me and also enjoyed it.
The book has the feel of a beloved relative talking about the "old days", except that the story is told with the literary sure hand of a retired English professor. Not only is Mildred Kalish's style wonderfully readable, I found her choices of subjects to be interesting.
I did sort of skim over the recipes in the book, but there was one that caught my eye: the "apple cream pie". My wife baked it the other night, and it is pretty darn good. Beware though: there are a lot of apples in it!
I think the value in this book are the lessons it teaches, and how it teaches those lessons without being preachy or judgemental about the current state of society. The values are some we could use more of today: self-reliance, respect for our family, the satisfaction of hard work, and bearing our trials with dignity. Sadly, when Ms. Kalish's generation have all passed away, these values are in danger of becoming some sort of antiquated curiosity. This book can also be therapeutic, allowing us to put the annoyances and challenges of life today in proper perspective. Maybe it's not so bad after all that the line at Starbuck's is long. Maybe our kids can learn that there are other ways to have fun than video games and text messaging. Maybe we can all just slow down a little, and be happy with what we have.
The most telling passage is at the very end. She could have complained about the hard times, the poverty, and the back-breaking farm work. Instead, she is grateful. A lesson for us all.
Highly recommended. Rating:
Date: 2008-06-29
Thoroughly Enjoyable
To be honest with you, I don't know who recommended this book to me but I am eternally grateful to whomever did, because it really was a fun read. I enjoyed it so much that I went out and bought my own copy of it so I can lend it to people. My great-great-grandma immigrated from Germany to Iowa and her daughter and grand-daughter grew up in Iowa till the Great Depression drove them to Ohio. The grand irony is while the author lived in Iowa during the Great Depression, my relatives moved back east looking for jobs.
The stories and historical tidbits that Millie had shared about her childhood on the farm are familiar stories passed down to me from my relatives. I grew up as a town girl and so did my mom, but she would visit her cousins every summer and they lived on the farm. She would share her stories with me at the family reunions and Millie has a great way with words. Reading this book almost made me feel like I was sitting at her knees as she rocked in her rocking chair and passed on so many stories of her childhood. She has taught me a few things as well as answered so many questions I never knew that I had.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable book and one that every family in the Midwest should own as a reminder of their ancestors' past. It is chock full of information, stories, old-folks' tales and musings. It is a great book to share with your children and grandchildren, and a piece of history that is made all the more real since it was penned by a woman who grew up on the farm. I love memoirs and this one just beats them all.
This one comes highly recommended.
6/29/08 Rating:
Date: 2008-06-18
Heart Warming
I'm the daughter of parents who grew up during the depression so many of these stories are familiar. My parents also read the book and were equally pleased with the stories. It doesn't quite delve into how difficult it was however, and stays on the light reading side. Great gift for anyone who's been to the midwest, grew up in that era, or just someone who appreciates the simpler times. |
