Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression | 
 enlarge | Author: Mildred Armstrong Kalish
Publisher: Bantam
Category: Book
List Price: $12.00
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Rating:  94 reviews
Sales Rank: 1154
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
ISBN: 0553384244
Dewey Decimal Number: 977.761033092
EAN: 9780553384246
ASIN: 0553384244
Publication Date: April 29, 2008
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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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 89 more reviews...
 Great Read and Great for Giving December 4, 2008
Wow, I read this book because my mom always called us kids "little heathens" and we are from rural Iowa, so had to check out this book. If nothing else but to completely clarify what a heathen is when used in an endearing context.
First, I read it on my kindle, then bought a copy for my mom (she loved it), she then recommended it to her sisters, who bought copies, then I bought a copy for my cousin for Christmas when I got that copy i looked through it and the pics are so great it is a shame I read it first on Kindle.
Furthermore, during Thanksgiving my mom told my 8 brothers and sisters how great it was, and on, and on... Let's just say everyone who has read this book feels a closer connection to our older relatives who lived through the depression, we even understand some traditions better, why we cook the way we do, and where we get the saying, "He is just a half bubble off plumb."
I also believe that each of us has come away feeling better about where we come from, who we are, and like Dolly Parton says, I wouldn't give up those experiences for any amount of money, and I wouldn't live through it again for any amount of money. (paraphrase)
This review is based on the Hardcover Edition and the Kindle Edition
Wonderful Book November 21, 2008
Bought this for my mother-in-law, and she absolutely loved it. The stories brought back memories of her own childhood. Wish I could give this ten stars for her!
 enjoyable October 19, 2008
a great read, sort of like an updated Little House for the adult reader. Details about farm life including recipes & the like, but full of antics and stories of family life as well. overall, the author seems too disgruntled with her upbringing and almost makes that the overtone of the book. a fun book though.
Excellent memoir October 13, 2008
Little Heathens by Millie Kalish is a wonderful book about the author's life on an Iowa farm in the 1930's. She makes the setting and times come alive and I especially enjoyed getting a glimpse of my parent's generation and what their childhood might have been like.
The values she was taught as a child enabled her to become a member of the armed forces, go to college and become a college professor. Her family offered love and support to its members in times that were very challenging. This proves that it doesn't take a lot of money to become a succesful member of society as an adult.
Some of the remedys for first aid I remember hearing from my parents and their siblings.
It is truly worth your time to buy and read.
Outstanding, and a reminder of what 'builds character'! October 12, 2008
My wife borrowed a copy of Little Heathens from our daughter, read it, and said I might like to read it. I did, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's very well-written, humorous, heart-warming, and. . .a reminder of how life can be lived, and enjoyed, even in very difficult times. I'm sure it will be especially interesting to those who, like me, grew up in the Depression.
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