Little Men (Puffin Classics)

Did you know that Louisa May Alcott published Little Women in installments? Did you also know that she continued to write about Jo March (one of my favorite literary characters of all-time), and her family? I didn’t! It took me most of my life to find and read Little Men!Louisa May Alcott was raised in Concord, MA. She was the daughter of a transcendentalist author, and was raised around other extremely influential transcendentalist authors (Thoreau, Emerson, etc.).Little Men, like Little Women, is a tale about family. This book, instead of focusing on the March girls, tells the story of Jo’s school for boys—girls are a later addition!Jo and her husband, whom the boys refer to as “Mother” and “Father”, teach their students, some of whom are orphaned, others who are boarders at the school, about the importance of nature, hard work, and goodness. Talk about a post-Civil War American novel!Meg’s children play a important role, Amy’s daughter is featured, and Jo’s small boys are introduced. While the adults in the story function as secondary characters, readers are also able to see snippets of Jo’s friendship with Teddy, aka, Laurie, which is evokes some nostalgia.Although I preferred Little Women and it’s characters, I am happy to have read Little Men. This is a story for readers who don’t mind a moral or two; however, despite a little bit of preaching, this book is heartwarming.Alcott follows Little Men with a story about the school boys after they are grown: Jo’s Boys. I am looking forward to finishing this (unofficial) series.

My son (10) and I both love Little Men. I read it after reading Little Women and I love reading about Jo as a mother and mentor. She makes me want to imitate her in her laid back but emotionally attached with high expectations parenting. My son loves it for all the fun and funny stories and the boys’ antics. It reads more like a collection of stories about their lives…there’s no big plot twists or rising climax, just a fun, inspiring book for both kids and adults.

Ah, this edition of Little Men has some very odd typos in it. At first I thought the characters were misspeaking or speaking very oddly, only to realize it was just typos. Eh. I got over it. The first edition I ordered had such a strange text layout (background color was not white...no way to choose or change it!) I had to return it. The typos were ok, given the overall quality of the text was good.The story is good, possibly not as compelling as Little Women, but I'm left wanting to know what happens in the lives of "Jo's Boys," so that will obviously be the next read!

A charming book. Shipping was fast and it came in excellent condition.

Of course there is nothing to be said about the writer and I cried several times reading this wonderful book, however, there are quite a few font problems and the editing could be better. It looks like sections were copied and pasted into this print run without changing the fo t to match the rest. Sections are so small (usually a poem or other quote) that I have to use a magnifying glass to read them. Try and find an earlier copy of the book. It is well worth reading.

Many typos, but for the price one can excuse them. Still a solid classic. My 9 year old son has been enjoying this with me as our evening read aloud.

This book has a lot of moral lessons that can encourage children to do the right thing. Each character in the book has something a child can relate to, for there are many characters described in the book. Especially Dan, one of the main characters, who was a bully through out half the book. A little bit of comedy, a couple morals, can really motivate a child to change into a new light. This book deserves five stars.Written by Golden,10 years old.

This was a nice story, but it was incredibly sexist. Well, that’s reasonable given when the story was written. Louisa May Alcott was fairly liberated for the 1800s.

I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderfully written classic work of fiction would recommend for all ages

Good to read the third book in the 'Little Women' series, about which I did not know until recently.

Seems much more dated that her other books.

Brillant

Brilliant writing! Great characters and brillant plot!