When I was in kindergarten, my class got to go to the school library every week or every other week. They took us to the section of books appropriate for our reading level and let us pick out whatever we wanted. It seemed like there were a million books to choose from but I always checked out the same one since I had memorized it and didn’t actually know how to read (don’t worry, everyone figure that out pretty fast and put an end to it). 

One day while I was waiting in line to check out my book, I spotted “Farmer Boy” displayed proudly on a shelf in the big kids section. We weren’t allowed to go over there, but I told myself I would read that book one day. I think I knew it was a Little House book but assumed it was also about Laura Ingalls and how she had to be a farmer boy for her family since they only had girls. 

I didn’t read “Farmer Boy” until I was eight or nine and I was so devastated that it was about Almanzo and not Laura that I hated it! All those years of building up to being able to read “Farmer Boy” on my own, what a let down! 

After rereading it again, I realized that I don’t actually hate the book. It’s a charming story and filled with sweet characters and small adventures. But I still can’t completely let go of my childhood disappointment either and remained disappointed that Laura wasn’t in the book at all.