Monday, July 5, 2010

~My Character House~

..."A man's character is like his house.  If he tears boards off his house and burns them to keep himself warm and comfortable his house soon becomes a ruin.  If he lies to be able to do the things he shouldn't do but wants to, his character  will soon become a ruin.  A man with a ruined character is a shame on the face of the earth."....                    Ralph Moody, author of "Little Britches"


To my delight I found a book I loved from 5th grade in the library recently and couldn't put it down!  Mrs. Jarnigan my fifth grade teacher would read one chapter of Little Britches and then the sequel Man of the Family to us after we came in from lunch recess.  You could hear a pin drop in the room as she read of a family of six children and their parents coming from a prim New Hampshire community to ranch outside Denver, Colorado in the 1900's.  We were spellbound ~ listening to this true account of an 11 yr old telling us about his family, ranching, horseback riding and Two-Dog, the Indian.  But the most profound stories are about the relationship between Ralph and the wisdom of his father.  If you want to have a wonderful summer read, please check out Little Britches. 

1 comment:

Stacey said...

I love picturing little Sheila Jean spellbound to this book, while wearing your cat-eyed glasses I hope?! I felt the same way about my first grade teacher reading us the Box Cart Children, and 4th grade teacher reading Sedako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Teachers have such a lasting effect on children. More than they know. We'll have to read this book. It sounds great.