In December I had the pleasure of reading “Peace Like A River,” which was the fictional tale of a Minnesota family that treks into North Dakota in search of a family member on the run from the law. Like many others, I got caught up in the story and enjoyed the way author Leif Enger told the story through the eyes of young Rube Land, whose retelling of the story caught the innocence yet had a maturity to it.
If you enjoyed that, imagine a true story of two young adventurers on amazing trips, including one by themselves! Bud & Me: The True Adventures of the Abernathy Boys is told through the eyes of Temple Abernathy (the “Me” in the title), who at age 5 rode horseback with his 9-year-old brother Bud from Frederick, Okla., to Santa Fe, N.M., and back.
The world was a different place in 1905, but to read something like this it just amazes you. At one point, Temple Abernathy says he and his brother were encouraged by reading Mark Twain’s “Roughing It,” a book that I’ve read and enjoyed. This is the kind of book that would be fun to read with children and then talk about. In the last year I’ve read through “Do Hard Things” by Alex and Brett Harris and so have my two children. The idea of that book was to defy the low expectations that are placed on kids. I would say these kind of adventures would fall in the “Do Hard Things” category!
To read some sample pages of “Bud and Me” go here.
Rockstanding 