Describe Thoreau's childhood as noted in the biography, Thoreau of Walden Pond.

Henry grows up in Concord, Massachusetts a town that has seen its share of hardship and challenge. According to North, Thoreau feels great respect for rugged outdoorsmen, loves nature and desperately wants to live wild and free like Native Americans or riverboat sailors. His family are poor, honest and hardworking people, well liked in the community. He has two sisters, and one brother, John, probably his best friend in the world. Thoreau learns to work very hard on the family farm and in his father's pencil factory, yet he always makes the time to read books about eras long past, heroic adventures, exotic lands and especially to explore the nearby woods.