I just read this book for school and i thought it was amazing. David Langston is the sweetest guy, working and caring for his wife. I really liked this book because I can almost relate to it, being fortunate enough to have a boyfriend who is as wonderful as David. The augthor really gives the characters life, and reading this book makes you feel like you are actually there with David and Ruth. Excellent reading....I highly recommend it!

This is one you will read over and over. Yes, it is old-fashioned, but that is part of its charm. My sister loves this book so much she planned her vacation trip around visiting Gene Stratton Porter's home. For anyone who loves romance!

This romance novel in my mother's girlhood collection was the first novel I ever read. The Harvester, a hermit who lives alone and supports himself by growing, harvesting and drying medicinal herbs, has vision of a wonderful woman. He sets out in search of her among the city streets by knocking on doors and selling flowers. He finds his girl, but she is traumatized and ill. The Harvester builds a home for her and establishes a relationship only to have her become so ill she almost dies. How he wins both her life and love make this story one you will never forget! If only Hollywood knew, we could have an academy award if this were ever made into a movie - it's a treasure!

If you want to remember what the world looked like through a child's eyes, you'll want to read this book. Educators, naturalists and Theologians will be inspired by GSP's ideas. If you are interested in the author, visit the Gene Stratton-Porter Historic Sites in Geneva and Rome City Indiana. The story of "Laddie" has many similarities to the author's own childhood, making it even more interesting.

Laddie was my most beloved book as a pre-teenager. I absolultely loved the world portrayed, and with each rereading (17 readings in all) I was more caught up in the world of Little Sister (what was her name? We never do find out, do we?) I'm thrilled to see that it's available, as my old copy is in tatters, with pages missing and held together with a rubber band.

I read this story aloud to my 10 year old daughter and 11 year old son. We laughed, we cried, we wondered what would happen next, we were oh so sorry when the book was done. My kids said it was their all time favorite of the many many books we have read aloud together. This is the kind of story that inspires great character and kindly behavior....something that is sadly lacking in most modern liturature for the young. Well worth reading, alone or aloud.

A Girl of the Limberlost is an amazing book that I have loved since the first time I read it. For some reason this excelent book although it has been around for a long time seems to be undiscovered which on;y makes it more of a hidden treasure. I would recomend this book to anyone at any age.

This is the story of a young lady living during victorian times whose family is well off financially. She seems to have an inner source of strength that keeps her from following in the path of her parents and does what is true and right. It contains some big surprises and will make the reader think about why we do what we do.
Dean Edwards (maxacad@maf.org) Nairobi, Kenya

Reading "Keeper of the Bees" is a very sensual experience. When the action takes place in the Bee Master's garden I was tempted to actually pick some of the blue flowers. There were times when I was certain that I was smelling the salt air as I heard the Pacific's Ocean's waves crash on the sandy beach. And when the scene shifted to the apiary, it took a concerted effort not to recoil as the swarms worked their magic, and of course I craved the delicious honey fresh out of the hive.

The wholesome adventure involves a slowly recovering World War I veteran who runs away from the hospital to die in the tranquility of the California's coastal countenance, but instead finds redemption by coming to the aid of an assortment of fleshed-out characters.

While the book is a beneficial read, I had a few structural complaints. At times Mrs. Stratten-Porter's style seemed haphazard and in isolated incidents, I was delayed by choppy sentence structure. The departure of the Brunsons--minor characters relevant only to the early chapters--seemed disturbingly abrupt, and the presence of the androgynous Little Scout will no doubt be deliberately misinterpreted today in ways that the author never intended 75 years ago. Winnowing 50-100 of its 500+ pages seemed like a feasible option that could have dulcified the work.

Tragically, Mrs. Stratten-Porter did not live to see this book's publication. (Perhaps her untimely death prevented the final proofread which may have assuaged the mechanical drawbacks I referenced.) It was a posthumous swan song that capped her palmy career. Based on this beneficent tale, I am very interested in exploring some of her earlier efforts.

I, too, read The Keeper of the Bees as a teenager. The vivid images and reliable wisdom of this book are useful to me even now, forty years later! This is a classic, and I am delighted to see it still in circulation and well-read. The beekeeping principles that are woven into the story are authentic, as I found out a year or two after reading the book. The medical principles of healing are still being explored, but the vital role of the patient's frame of mind have been demonstrated to be important. There's a lot of truth to be learned from Ms. Stratton-Porter, and I recommend The Keeper to readers of any age, and particularly to young men.

I am the third generation in my family who fell in love with Gene Stratton-Porter!This book is about a world war 1 soldier who escapes from a rehabilitation camp in California. He finds himself helping a sick old man care for his bees. This book was so good that I felt like I was standing there, watching everything unfold. I think that you should read this book.

It is easy to criticize this novel for young people from any number of angles. The language is stilted, the style is flat, the dialogue stagy, and the characters' psychology don't quite ring true. Even the source of Elnora's income seems implausible. Collecting butterflies for the kinds of sums she is ultimately able to acquire should bring in hoards of competitors. We should see whole species extinct by the end of the book, along with plenty of human violence and thievery, but perhaps I am reading too much modernity into this simple tale of almost a century ago, a story that remains appealing and affecting for its innocence, not its realism.

At root, the story is the conflict between Elnora Comstock and her psychologically unwell mother (Kate, whom the author wisely does not try to make likable, though he does attempt to make her sympathetic) and how Elnora's intelligence, determination, and all around decency and goodness triumph in the end. Elnora in fact turns out to be quite a formidable foe of anyone who stands in her way, as her rival in love Edith Carr will discover. Yet despite her power, she struggles to grow in wisdom and humanity, never letting bitterness overcome her essential decency.

Modern readers may roll their eyes at the sensibilities and sensitivities exhibited. At times, it seems that Elnora and her friends are living next door to where the pyramids are being built. But surely, that is part of the book's charm. Young girls of the time (pre-WWI) no doubt hoped for such a happily married life, as Elnora seems destined to have. And it is refreshing to see the young men portrayed as intelligent as well as romantic and caring. Characters grow, even mean, monstrous ones (e.g. Kate), and they grow for the better. One always wishes the best for Elnora and despite the book's faults that is a real accomplishment on by the author. They don't write books like this one any more.

It's hard not to fall in love with Elnora. Not only is her character development a journey of delight, you are allowed into the lives of the other characters of the book and feel their joys as well as pain. The story line is simple although deeply moving and best of all...REAL.
Elnora's bitter mother does worse than MIStreats her, she barely treats her with any reagard AT ALL! Kindly neighbors know the real truth about her father's death and do their best to love this sensitive and bright girl. The mother goes through a life-changing series of events that transform her from a hard, compassionless shell of a woman into a truly repentant softened heart eager to love her estranged daughter. Her change is so heart-wrenching, I usually have a gut-ache by the end of those chapters.
If you have a love for nature and boast a colorful imagination, Porter lays before you a smorgasboard of descriptions of Limberlost life in the woods. I have been to Porter's Limbelost cabin in Geneva. It's lovely. And there's actually a mounted specimen of the Yellow Emperor! (Read this book and that last statement will thrill you!)
This book can help teach you the meaning of self-respect, determination, perseverance and love. Elnora does not throw herself at her boyfriend, rather allows him to persue and woo her after he discovers his fiancee is a manipulative shallow child he has only worshiped and not loved. The story flows with honor and respect.
Please read you will not be disappointed!!

I first read this book 60 years ago and still have my copy.Elnora has had a difficult time growing up, yet she is a genteel, caring person inspite of a totally nonsupportive mother. Her knowledge of nature made me feel that I was right there with her and no matter how often I read this book, it still brings tears to my eyes.

This is indeed my favorite book. I just read it to my family and they loved it too. It was my third time. Freckles is the type of boy I want my three boys to be, and the examples of courage, loyalty, and love will be in their memory a long time, I'm sure. I read many books to my children, and rate them all 1 through 10. I rarely give a 10 but Freckles is a 10 and a half!

I am a 12 year old girl. I thought this book was perfect. IT is about a young boy who moves to the woods to work at the limberlost. THere, he meets a girl. He enjoys being around her a lot. But a bad gang comes and tries to steal trees. Freckles must stop them. With a little help, he can! Read this book anyone my age would love it. It's one of those really good ones you can get into!

Suffering from the "unfairness of life" a young man makes choices. Abandoned at birth with only one arm, Freckles chooses to love....and love He does! He finds the world about him the object of his intense love. He finds the people about him worthy of love. Finally, he finds himself not worthy to love one special girl and is surprised in the end with her response. We are led into a magical world where love is not yet tarnished with selfishness. A joy to read again and again and a very special foundation to preteen and teen training in love.

Because of my name, many have asked me over the years if I was familiar with Gene Stratton-Porter's book, "Michael O'Halloran". As a boy, I was given a copy containing the pen and ink drawings and stills from the "photoplay" and have treasured it since (I do not know if modern editions contain either set of illustrations). Re-reading it as an adult, I am still charmed by this tale of an orphaned newspaper seller who asks nothing of the world except to "be square". It is easy to overlook major holes in the plot (for example, we never do know what is wrong with Peaches other than she is sick and can't walk), when we are presented with such a vivid description of American life in 1914 - even if some of the city scenes don't quite ring true. Though the characters suffer many hardships, the overall tone is so upbeat that it's easy to see why this book outsold "Pollyanna" in 1916. Stratton-Porter's skill as a naturalist make the country scenes especially vibrant. Her ear for dialog is unsurpassed showing the reader that, if life in America wasn't like this, it should have been. Having read this book, I am ready to believe that children and adults did speak this nicely to each other once upon a time. You, too, will wonder if the world wouldn't be a lot better off if everyone could just "be square".

Because of my name, many have asked me over the years if I was familiar with Gene Stratton-Porter's book, "Michael O'Halloran". As a boy, I was given a copy containing photo stills from the movie and have treasured it since. Re-reading it as an adult, I am still charmed by this tale of a young newspaper seller who asks the world to "be square". It is easy to overlook major holes in the plot (for example, we never do know what is wrong with Peaches other than she is sick and can't walk) when we are presented with such a vivid description of American life in 1914 - even if some of the city scenes don't quite ring true. Through many hardships, the tone is so upbeat that it's easy to see why this book outsold "Pollyanna" in 1916. Stratton-Porter's skill as a naturalist make the country scenes especially vibrant. Her ear for dialog is unsurpassed showing the reader that, if life in America wasn't like this, it should have been. Having read this book, I am ready to believe that children and adults did speak this nicely to each other once upon a time. You, too, will wonder if the world wouldn't be a lot better off if everyone could just "be square".

I loved this story! I read it first when I was 17 or so and had already read many of the author's works. Michael has such an appreciation for life, and his "squareness" and determination to keep his family together in the face of poverty, illness, and wellmeaning interference really brings home how important family is. This story contrasts city life and country life--and makes you long for the country! The fresh, homegrown food, the clean breezes, the room to stretch and grow, the creeks with gravelly bottoms and nibbling minnows! This book will appeal to anyone who yearns for the simple life.

THIS BOOK BY GENE STRATTON-PORTER HAPPENED TO COME TO ME BY CHANCE. IN MY HOME WE HAVE A GREAT NUMBER OF BOOKS. IT BEING THE SUMMER, I NEEDED SOMETHNG TO DO. I FOUND THIS BOOK AND STARTED READING. MY MOM COULD HARDLY PULL ME AWAY FROM IT. IT WAS SO GOOD I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN. MY MOTHER SAID THAT WHEN SHE WAS ABOUT MY AGE SHE HAD READ IT AND LOVED IT AS I DID. I ENJOYED IT SO MUCH THAT I LET MY FRIENDS READ IT AND THEN MY SISTER-IN-LAW. AND JUST YESTERDAY I DISCOVERED THAT I HAD 2 COPIES OF THIS WONDERFUL BOOK. I THINK EVERYONE OF ANY AGE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT HAS A WONDERFUL PLOT AND NO MATTER HOW OLD YOU ARE IT WILL KEPT YOU INTERTAINED. I LOVE THIS BOOK!

When I was in the seventh grade I was a total book worm. I went through my little town library looking for just about anything to read. I came upon this old harcover book from the 1920's. I read it once and immediately fell in love. Not only is this my favorite book but the only book i've read more than 30 times. Just today I went into my town library with my little sister. I read this book to her for a month every night before she went to bed (I'm sure she'll be a fan of this boook quite soon, also). I wanted to take my favorite book out once again. Much to my dismay the book was gone. I searched every shelf and the computer system looking for this book. The librarians beleive that someone may have taken it. What i would do for my own copy of this book is immeasurable. If only a love like shown in this book were given to every girl this world would be a better place. If anyone know how or where I can get a copy of this book please let me know.

I also received this book as a hand-me-down from my grandmother. I have re-read this book dozens of times and it is truly a treasure. The story will have you yearning for simpler times and true love.

In many ways I preferred this book to A Girl of the Limberlost. It was less gaudily emotional but interestingly, the heroine's parents are also less than satisfactory, and the story honestly portray's the heroine's own difficulty loving her daughter as much as her son. Still, I was left with no real understanding of why she discarded the wealthy suitor for the boor! But it seemed a fairly accurate portrayal of society of the time.

I loved this book almost as much as Laddie, and place it right next to A Girl of the Limberlost. The story touched me, and every girl that reads Stratton-Porter books must read this masterpiece. Touching!!!