Peck's Bad Boy and His Pa

Peck's Bad Boy and His Pa is a classic story about a father and his mischievous son Hennery, and the various misadventures and pranks the boy plays on all sorts of people.


A funny and accessible book even today, Peck's Bad Boy and His Pa offers a glimpse into how childhood was in the USA back in the old days of the late 19th century. Loosely based on the author's own family life, the allusions to how things were on the Wisconsin frontier in those times, and the folksy expressions and slang of that era evoke nostalgia and fondness for a bygone America. In a time before radio, television or the Internet, most people received lighthearted entertainment from books such as this.


The tricks which Hennery plays remain riotously funny, as are his attempts to avoid punishment. Often the pranks are ingenious and subject to careful staging and planning; the early parts of each chapter describe the boy concocting some sort of mischief, and the reader is left to guess whether his scheme will succeed, and if he'll escape punishment. Even Hennery's own parents aren't immune to suffering from his antics!


Although originally from New York, George Wilbur Peck developed a strong affinity for the Midwestern lifestyle and published newspapers in the locality after concluding his military service in the U.S. Civil War. In maturity, Peck was a politician and author who variously served as Governor of the State of Wisconsin and Mayor of Milwaukee.