While Laura Ingalls grows up in a little house on the western prairie, Almanzo Wilder is living on a big farm in New York State. Almanzo and his brother and sisters help with the summer planting and fall harvest. In winter there is wood to be chopped and great slabs of ice to be cut from the river and stored. Almanzo wishes for just one thing--his very own horse--but he must prove that he is ready for such a big responsibility.

A letter arrives for Caroline, asking her to come help her uncle Aaron and cousin Lydia on their new farm for the summer. Although Caroline is reluctant to leave her family, she's eager to lend a hand. So when she suspects that a thief has been stealing much-needed food from the farm, Caroline helps keep watch to guard against the uninvited visitor. Then she makes an unexpected discovery--and learns that some things are not as simple as they seem Reading...