Laddie: A True Blue Story

Written in an age when we encouraged our children to be self reliant. Great and gentle tale of our great grandparents age..

I really enjoyed Freckles and Girl of the Limberlost (I don't remember The Harvester) but this was my very favorite! She still has the descriptive passages of the outdoors of nature and creatures that makes you picture the setting and feel you are there to see, hear & smell the seasons and enjoy the outdoors. but I just love this family!I love the mother & fathers faith in God and hard working example to their large family of children to live out their faith and relationship with God- to alway "do unto others" even when it's not convenient and when it do you harm, but God will bless you for it.I love the lessons learned about the value of hard work and the value of being a good neighbor and continuing learning every day from books, journals, newspaper, etc all your life. The value of a life of integrity and the influence it can have on a community without the striving for greatness and fame.I guess because I've always wished for that life of working a farm/homestead, I really enjoy reading about those who have and made it work, and the satisfaction that growing your own food and living off the land to support your family can bring.A great and inspiring story of an admirable, hardworking family and the blessings that come in spite of the inevitable hardships of life.I'm going to have to get a hard copy of this!

I love the type of story that makes me long for the simpler times, aka my childhood. The narrator (Little Sister) is sweet, precocious, adventurous, and very imaginative. I really enjoyed the way she found things to entertain herself, the way she made friends, and the way she absolutely adored her older brother, Laddie.As stated in the blurb, this story is a double tale and the romance is sweet. This story has all the feel-goods and each chapter is a mini story in itself. I enjoyed my time spent within the pages of this endearing and charming book.

At first, I was put off by the author's writing style. The story of Laddie is told in third person by a perceptive and sometimes inappropriate little sister. She tends to prattle on... and the author uses her stream of consciousness to drift across multiple topics while she makes her main points.But then, I found myself more and more engaged by the little sister herself, and by the beauty of the portrait of a family and a piece of America that I have never personally experienced. The story enriches you as you engage with this Mid-West farming family who are wholesome, very well educated and loving in their inter-personal relationships. There are quiet testimonies of courage, and the utter commitment of teamwork that the best marriages demonstrate. It is a delightful read. It put me in mind of Wendell Berry's essay, "The Gift of Good Land." It left me with a feeling of warmth and well-being, and an appreciation for the complex realities that are the shared human experience of living in a family.JDM

This is a story, beautifully written, told by the youngest child of a large family. It takes place on a farm surrounded by the wonders of nature, which are described in beautiful detail. Many troubles come to this family but love prevails over each one. It is a story of strength, integrity, respect, goodness and above all, love. Reading it was refreshing and inspiring.

This is an adorable book! I have loved it since I read it for the first time 8 years ago and I find time to read it at least once a year. It is well written and is one of those stories that help you see that life and family are beautiful! I recommend this book to anyone who loves a happy ending, it doesn't matter how old you are. I read it for the first time as a 12 year old after my mom's best friend recommended it to me.It is a story about love. One of the main themes is the love a sister has for her older brother. It captures her point of view as she matures and her siblings grow up, make mistakes, fall in love, and, eventually, get married. The loving relationship her parents have is wonderful and I think has a few lessons that people can still learn from today on what makes a successful, strong marriage. It is a beautiful story!

This paperback edition (Wilder Publications) is a good price and the book is bound well. There are a number of typographical errors that would have been relatively easy to catch, which make it clear that this was a quick copy from a public domain site, and not a labor of love for the story. It's a BEAUTIFUL story and if I could be paying the author or someone like her instead, I would have preferred that. As far as reading it, LOVE IT! Every book by this author is magical in the way it brings every detail to life and makes you FEEL like you are there. Whether you want to interest a child in plants and butterflies, build character, inspire great writing, or simply enjoy a trip back in time, you'll not be disappointed for a moment.

This is far and above my favorite book. My father read this book aloud to us when I was just a child and it has impacted my life since. It has been a repeat destination for me when I'm looking for a good read. If all you get out of it is Porter's description of farm life in the decades just after the Civil War, it is well worth reading. Her descriptions of nature and her rich development of the characters in the story are an excellent example of her writing skills. Add to this Porter's deep understanding of human nature and you come away with a strong perception of the difference between people who have integrity and those who do not. All this written in the first person, written from the point of view of an eight year old girl. To say that this is an excellent book is an understatement.

Nothing brilliant about this book but I just loved it because it was long so you didn't just get used to characters and then the book ended. It was full of believable people and stories of childhood. I really felt that I knew these people and cared about what happened to them.I would think that 'Laddie' would be suitable for people of all ages, although it's not for anyone who wants a complicated plot or lots of action and suspense!

A lovely story and written in beautiful, simple English. Easy for anyone to understand. it is a book that you want to keep on reading until you finish it, isabel

Revisting a book I read years ago still enjoyble but very different to modern writing it isa period piece.

Another excellent book

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