Testimonials
Keep the wonderful books coming! (Referring to Where the Green Grass Grows)
(P.S. Elk Mound, Wisconsin)
Where the Green Grass Grows is the perfect read for this frigid, below-zero weather in Iowa. . .I will pass your order form onto our local public library with my highest recommendation. The weather is cold, but the memories of farm life are so warm.
(B.L. Grand Mound, IA)
There’s only one thing wrong with your new book Where the Green Grass Grows— I could not put it down after opeing the package! I even read well into the night last night, you know, one more page. . .one more chapter. . .one more happening. Your books are shared with my home-schooled grandchildren. No need to worry about the contents.
(J.C. North Jackson, Ohio)
The new book (Where the Green Grass Grows) is wonderful. I loved the kite story. The book came today, and I will no doubt stay up late reading. Keep up the good writing.
(C.D. Athens, Wisconsin)
Thank you for sending notice of your new book Where the Green Grass Grows. I am anxious to get it to cuddle up and read it! I very much like the way you write your books. And of course, being a farm girl too, your descriptions of farm life, chores, is so clear. You could learn how to start farming reading your books!
(V.K. Independence, Wisconsin)
We’re anxious to read Where the Green Grass Grows.I am a farmer’s daughter, and I know I will thoroughly enjoy your book!
(C.S. Altoona,Wisconsin)
Cream Of The Crop: More True Stories Form A Wisconsin Farm is the third anthology of biographical and anecdotal stories by LeAnn Ralph about growing up on a Wisconsin dairy farm. In the 1960s there were more than 60,000 dairy farms in Wisconsin, in May of 2004 the Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service recorded the number of surviving dairy farms in the state at 15,591. The number has dropped even lower since then. That dairy farming reality is what helps to give LeAnn’s deftly told stories their nostalgia for a rural lifestyle that is not-so-slowly disappearing in the Badger state. There are twenty short but immensely entertaining stories in this simply superb anthology. They range from “What’s in a Name”, to “She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Cornfield”, to “Gertrude and Heathcliff”, to the title story “cream Of The Crop”. LeAnn continues to write with a remarkable knack for making people and events come alive in the reader’s imagination. Also very highly recommended are LeAnn’s two earlier anthologies about life on the family farm in Wisconsin: Give Me A Home Where The Dairy Cows Roam (1591135923, $13.95) and Christmas In Dairyland: True Stories From A Wisconsin Farm (1591133661, $13.95).
James A. Cox. Editor-in-Chief — Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
Give Me A Home Where The Dairy Cows Roam is a collection of autobiographical stories drawn from author LeAnn Ralph’s family dairy farm in Wisconsin in a time when small family farms were commonplace in the Badger State’s rural countryside.
Now that we live in a time when approximately 85% of American family dairy farms have disappeared into suburban township developments or absorbed into agribusiness scale corporate farming enclaves, LeAnn takes us back some forty years ago into an era when dairy farming was a dawn-to-dusk life, seven days a week lifestyle that bonded parents and children with hard work and a sense of the land, animals, and homestead that is rapidly passing from today’s expanding urban society.
More than just an autobiographical collection of anecdotal stories, Give Me A Home Where The Dairy Cows Roamis also enhanced with a recipe for making homemade ice cream without an ice cream maker and a recipe for “Norma’s Homemade Bread”. Highly recommended reading, Give Me A Home Where The Dairy Cows Roam should be on the shelves of every community library in Wisconsin.
James Cox, Editor-in-Chief, Midwest Book Review, Oregon, WI USA
A heartwarming anthology of true anecdotes of rural life (April 3, 2004)
Christmas In Dairyland: True Stories From A Wisconsin Farm by LeAnn R. Ralph is a heartwarming anthology of true anecdotes of rural life on a Wisconsin dairy farm. Even though Wisconsin is still known as America’s Dairyland, life on a family homestead is fast being replaced by corporate agribusiness, and the memories treasured in Christmas In Dairyland are quickly becoming unique milestones of an era needing to be preserved in thought and print for the sake of future generations. Christmas In Dairyland is simply wonderful reading and is a “must” for all Wisconsin public library collections.
James Cox, Midwest Book Review, Oregon, WI USA
(Cream of the Crop) was extradordinary from the first story to the last. I laughed, cried and sighed at the way you bring the emotions of people and animals to the page.
(R.S. — Clintonville, Wisconsin)
I am enjoying “Cream of the Crop” so much.
(M.S. — Westby, Wisconsin)
Thanks again for writing so vividly. Every story seems to make a memory pop back into my head. And then I remember all over again what fun I had growing up on a farm.
(D.J. — LaGrande, Oregon)
“I’m almost finished with ‘Cream of the Crop’ and I love it!”
(C.B. — Plattsmouth, Nebraska
Please let me know when the next book is available. Very enjoyable reading!
(C.J. — Mosinee, Wisconsin)
Keep writing those farm stories. I really enjoy them! I have the same memory of the farm as you do, but don’t have a way with words.
(G.T. — Pace, Florida)
I can’t wait for a nice, snowy day to settle in with your book. It’s becoming a holiday tradition. Keep them coming!
(T.H. — Neenah, Wisconsin)
I am enjoying the book! Thanks for taking the time to capture the good years!
(A.N. — Hixton, Wisconsin)
I love the new book! (Cream of the Crop)
(M.B.S. — Neillsville, Wisconsin)
Thank you so much for the lovely books. I appreciate your taking the time to write the nice inscriptions. Can’t wait to start reading them.
(F.R. — Bay City, Texas)
Keep the books coming. We love them!
(M.W. — Wittenberg, Wisconsin)
I purchased a copy of [Christmas in Dairyland] and gave it to my mother-in-law for Christmas. She had it with her at her mother’s house, and her mother stole it from her and won’t give it back till she’s finished with it!
Angela Hoy, Writersweekly.com/Booklocker.com
I enjoyed “Christmas in Dairyland” so much that I am really looking forward to your new book [Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam].
A reader from Minnesota
Your book [Christmas in Dairyland] is a book of history. You weave in stories about farming and polio and Norwegian cooking and other tidbits of the time. . .you’ve done a nice job of capturing some of the day-to-day things that have changed in farming life. Your stories also take me back to feelings that I recall as a child. . .those feelings of youthful exuberance and pangs of guilt and other family interactions (written in) such wonderful detail.
Katherine Stahl (Host of Spectrum West) Wisconsin Public Radio
I really have enjoyed both of your books so much! As I mentioned before, this is my life between the covers of your book and it really takes me back to the good life we had growing up.Your father sounds like he was a very compassionate and caring individual, as my father was and I think most small-time farmers were: always putting their family and cows first. I also loved all your haying stories, as I could also relate to all of your events. Well done and I look forward to your next book!
A reader from Massachusetts
I have to tell you I feel a little sad. Just read the LAST page of “Give me a home where the dairy cows roam.” I enjoyed every word. . .I wish your book went on forever . . .now, bring on “Cream of the Crop!” I’ll be waiting!
A reader from Wisconsin
You brought me back to a time of udder(LOL) enjoyment. To a time I still long for but will never see again. The valley was full of farms and everyone would see each other at the creamery where Dad and I would drop our milk cans off. Then it was off to ‘The New’s Room’ or ‘Emily’s’ for ice cream or hot chocolate. I love farming just as you describe it. Thank you for taking me back to yesteryear.
A reader from New York State
“I heard you on public radio one day. I love your book!”
A reader from Wisconsin
I started reading as soon as the books arrived and am really enjoying “Give Me a Home.” I also worshipped my dad. He also had the patience of Job. I can see myself in many of the situations. I never sat still and when my brother Ray was milking, I nearly drove him crazy — in the stalls — crawling under (the cows). So, he put me in a gunny sack and hung me on the barn wall. I also collected cats — more was better!
A reader from Canada
I just finished “Give Me a Home” and can’t tell you how much I enjoyed it. The book took me back to the 50s and 60s growing on a dairy farm. . .I feel blessed that we were a part of it.
A reader from Wisconsin
There seems to be no difference between your time and my time on the farm. I had no idea (either) what the kids in town were doing. I thought I had it all right here. . .
A reader from Florida
I have read both of your books (“Christmas in Dairyland” and “Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam”)and thoroughly enjoyed all the stories! I think my favorite is the one when you FINALLY got your horse, Dusty. What a wonderful writer you are, as I feel like I’m right there with you on all of your adventures! My mother-in-law loved the books, also. Keep up the good work! Looking forward to more books!
A reader from Indiana
Thanks for the book. We enjoyed it so much, our daughter gave me a copy (of the stories from the Rural Route 2 website) a couple of years ago. I put them in a notebook. They brought back many memories, and I was really looking forward to your book.
A reader from Texas
Finished the book at 2:15 a.m. Saturday morning – good!
A reader from California
My daughter really enjoyed your book. She is going to do a book report on it for school.
A reader from Wisconsin
My dad is reading your book for the third time. I talked to him yesterday and he was telling me how much he enjoys the way you write. There’s another book I’ve been trying to get him to read–‘The Five People You Meet in Heaven’ but evidently he’d rather read yours again!
A reader from Michigan
(Your book) brings back memories. My dad also enjoyed limberger cheese and watching our reactions when he brought it to the table. Thanks for jogging my memories.
A reader from Pennsylvania
Thanks for sending the book. I am almost through reading it and I’m enjoying it. Keep up the good work!
A reader from Wisconsin
I have the exact same cookie cutters that are on the cover of your book!
A reader from California
My grandmother made my grandfather keep his limberger cheese in a coffee can in the attic! Your stories brought back memories from the farm.
A reader from Wisconsin
I started reading your book right away and it was hard to put down from cover to cover. There’s soooooo many things that reminded me of my childhood when I was growing up on a cotton farm down here in Texas where my dad was a share cropper.
A reader from Texas
Just a note to let you know how much we enjoyed your book. It was heartwarming to read it during the actual Christmas season. The mention of date-filled cookies made my husband want me to make some this year. His mother used to send us some when she was alive. So I used your recipe. They were delicious. Thanks for the memories.
A reader from Washington State
My mom especially enjoyed Christmas in Dairyland – she grew up on a farm in a small town and has had a wonderful time with the memories that reading your stories brings to her mind.
A reader from Wisconsin
Many thanks. I love stories like yours.
A reader from Idaho
I am enjoying your book. It brings back memories when I was a girl at home and my mom was making lefse. At that time, it was baked on top of the wood range in the kitchen. I hope the people that read your book and didn’t grow up on a farm can get a glimpse of how wonderful a life it was growing up with a warm, loving family. For the ones that did grow up on a farm, it will bring back a lot of memories.
A reader from Wisconsin
Thanks for your fun and interesting stories about what life was like on the farm.
A reader from Minnesota
I didn’t grow up on a farm, but your stories make me think back to when I was a kid, to a time of innocence when everything was good and anything was possible.
A reader from Illinois
When I got your book, I started reading it and couldn’t put it down. I read it all in one sitting.
A reader from Wisconsin
I’ve just finished reading my autographed copy of your fine book that I received as a birthday gift from a friend, a great and unexpected pleasure.
Christmas in Dairyland really tugged my heartstrings.
A reader from Idaho
