Ralph Moody

Any child would rebel at the thought of reading a series of books described as: character building, historically insightful and worst of all “autobiography.” Can the seal of doom be stamped any more firmly on any book, let alone an entire series? Personally, I probably would not have read the books if I had read that description first – but I didn’t.
In fact, 22 years ago, the colorful dust jackets with the highlighted name, “Moody” on the library book shelf caught my eye for weeks before I picked one up – I did not want to read the biography of some evangelist from the 1800s. I did relent eventually and pulled one off the shelf to peruse it.
I never put it down. I read that book and all the rest of the seven books about the childhood adventures of Ralph Moody. Then I read the books aloud to my children – with my husband listening around the corner.
An entrepreneurial spirit and attitude of “I can do it myself. I don’t need a hand-out” permeate the books. Moody ennobles the work ethic with a spirit of adventure and optimism by example. We still refer to those books as a boy’s version of “The Little House on the Prairie” and have recommended them to other families.
Moody began writing the books in his 50’s. His autobiography opens in “Little Britches” in 1906 when he was eight-years-old. The family had moved to Colorado to be ranchers, hoping to also improve his father’s health. The next three years of perils and pleasures prepare him to become, at 11, the “Man of the Family,” his second book. It is an inspiring tale about the determination of Ralph, his sister and his mother to not accept charity for the family. Together they establish their own home businesses and live frugally by gathering coal along the railroad track to heat their home. Moody earns a man’s wages as a pre-teen cattle driver. His western adventures continue in “The Home Ranch.”
Although the family succeeds in their thrust for independence, circumstances return them to the East coast where their perseverance, ingenuity and faith in God sustain them through the adventure of life as recorded in “Mary Emma and Company.”
In “The Fields of Home.” Moody confronts an even harsher side of life under the care of his strict, stingy Civil War Veteran grandfather who lives on a rock and stump riddled farm
Moody returns to the west as a very young adult in his final three books: “Shaking the Nickel Bush”, ‘The Dry Divide”, and “Horse of a Different Color.” Through the three books, Moody sustains himself in a variety of odd jobs including: a stunt man in a silent cowboy movie , a wheat pitcher under a harsh share-cropper employer, a wandering artist selling vanity sculptures to local civic leaders and as a dealer in the hog and beef markets.
Moody also wrote four non-fiction children’s books which are available at Barton Library. As an author, Moody makes hard work and perseverance sound like the greatest adventure of all. His books have recently been re-printed and are also available as audio books. The adventures in these eight “page-turners” totally obliterate the character building themes tucked into the autobiographical series. They really are worth the read.