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| Wilder in 1885, around age 18 |
This month I decided to reread the Little House on the Prairie series on audiobook. I managed to read six of the eight, running straight through them with pure pleasure.
Wilder wrote from her experiences as a child living in Wisconsin, travelling West to Missouri and Kansas, and finally settling in the Dakota territory. She was a gifted story-teller, bringing events vividly to life and creating memorable books.
So far, they've all been 4 star books for me and, despite dated attitudes, very entertaining.
Little House in the Big Woods
Little House series, book 1
This sweetly written, gentle glimpse into the past is a pure pleasure to (re)read.
Little House on the Prairie
Little House series, book 3
Despite Ma's vehement dislike of Native Americans, it's still an enjoyable read, full of fascinating information and slices of life from a time so unlike today.
On the Banks of Plum Creek
Little House series, book 4; Newbury Medal Nominee
Sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, this is another enjoyable book with memorable characters and situations that details a way of life so far removed from ours now.
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little House series, book 5; Newbury Medal Nominee
It stars off depressing, and sensitive readers may have a hard time with the first couple of chapters. (I know I did.) However, it gives an interesting account of what went into settling the Dakota territory as the Ingalls family leaves their comfortable house at Plum Creek, near to a town, to go further West for a homestead claim.
The Long Winter
Little House series, book 6; Newbury Medal Nominee
This is one of my favorite books of the series, as, despite the dangers and deprivations of the harsh winter, the Ingalls family pushes through with determination, cheerfulness, and resilience. It's a memorable story, serious but still enjoyable.
Little Town on the Prairie
Little House series, book 7; Newbury Medal Nominee
Following that long winter, the Ingalls family enjoys two prosperous summers, and two mild winters. Laura makes good friends in town and works hard toward earning a teacher's certificate. It's a more lighthearted story than previous ones, with less focus on homesteading than on the life of a new town. It's another well-written and entertaining book, though with some dated attitudes.
I read these as a child and then read them again as an adult with my daughter and they hit different as an adult. I noticed more of the negative tone of Ma when it came to the Native Americans and Pa’s desire to always be moving. But I feel that Laura wrote negative references or behaviors not because she felt they were right but just because they were what was. It was part of her mother and father and society at the time. And her mother felt she had good reasons to distrust Native Americans, which Laura touched upon in the books. I’ve since read them a couple of more times with my daughter and we really do enjoy them - though it was so hard to read about Mary’s blindness. I used anything that seemed “racist” or questionable as a learning opportunity.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great way to teach those books! And I strongly believe that we have to read a book through the lens it was written -- not to excuse unpalatable issues, but to understand them.
DeleteI never read them as a child, they didn't have them in my library. I guess they were not so popular in Germany. So, I read them as an adult and quite liked them, they were some of the very first books I read in English.
ReplyDeleteMy favourites were The Long Winter and Farmer Boy.
https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/ingalls-wilder-laura-little-house-books.html
Those are my two favorites, also! (I decided to save Farmer Boy for last, so that I could read Laura's stories without interruption.)
DeleteThat's definitely a good idea. I'm sure you're looking forward to that one.
DeleteThanks for visiting my post.