The Complete Little House Nine-Book Set
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Book Reviews of The Complete Little House Nine-Book Set
Book Review: Personal History of the Frontier
Summary: 5 Stars
These eight books were written when Laura Ingalls Wilder was in her late 60s. They are reminiscences of her early years when living on the western frontier of America in the post-Civil War era. While a smell can stimulate memory, many pages are written about the cooking and foods that they had. Laura also describes the intricacies of female dress of that time. Hoop skirts were probably killed off by the bicycle craze of the late 1880s, they even hindered getting into a buggy. The outlook also changes as she ages from a child to teenager to woman.
The "Little House ... Big Woods / Prairie" reflect her life as a child and how she remembers it. Since she was very young in Wisconsin, her memory must have been recovered from the stories of Ma and Pa and her older sister Mary. Could later events have affected her memories? "Farmer Boy" is about the youth of Almanzo Wilder, her future husband, and his life in the far north of New York state. These books are child-oriented.
"Plum Creek / Silver Lake" are about her later years, where she is aware of things like economic conditions that wouldn't be noticed by a child. The "Long Winter", about the terrible winter of 1880/1881, is most oriented to an adult in its description of life on the breaking edge of settlement. The story about the railroad camp won't have much meaning to children who have never experienced such hardships. It is a warning against the assumptions of the corporate railroad. If they build a railroad, the trains may not come on time.
"Little Town / Golden Years" are about her schooling, her school teaching, and her drives in the country with Almanzo, her future husband. I hope they had the happy married life that they deserved.
The books tell what is was like in the late 19th century. If you wondered about the roof on a sod house you will find a description here. Laura tells about digging a well, but the conventions of her time prevent any description on the location of their privy. The politics and events of that time are rarely mentioned, but children and teenagers don't care even today. Then it was work from sun up to sun down, except for Sunday. The Ingalls seem more religious than some others.
There is an economic side to these stories. In the first books the Ingalls live as subsistence farmers, growing or building most of what they consume. Pa hunts game for meat. In the middle of the stories Pa can't hunt, he must buy meat from the wages he earns in town. Laura works so her money can help send Mary to college. By the end the settlers are all raising cash crops to sell. They still have gardens to raise household food, and sew clothes from the cloth they buy. No more homespun. Labor saving devices are bought, like a breaking plow. Mechanized reapers and thrashers are now hired as needed. The forces of nature can still wipe out months and years of work in a few minutes. Hail and tornadoes threaten the growing crops. But the Ingalls strive, endure, and succeed, setting a good example for future countless generations.
Book Review: Such important books!
Summary: 5 Stars
I got "Little House in the Big Woods" when I was 7. I remember crying when I finished it because I wanted the story to go on and on. I pushed and prodded my Mom to get the rest of the books. As quickly as they appeared as birthday and Christmas presents, I devoured them. Almost 35 years later, I can say that I have read almost every book that has been written by or about Laura.
Many other reviewers have pointed out the especially wonderful aspects of the books. The narrator ages as Laura grows up. (What a cool concept!) The story of 4 year old Laura's Christmas in Wisconsin is as real and moving as the description of 18 year old Laura falling in love with Almanzo in Dakota Territory. The images are always fresh, and the stories always epitomize wholesomeness. There is a consistency all the way through "These Happy Golden Years" that shows that great care and skill were employed to make the series unwaveringly good.
The real life of Laura was strenuous and uncertain. She was poor most of her young life. She and Almanzo faced great loss and always worked very hard to run their farm. The many moves made by the Ingalls and Wilder families were made to escape difficulties like failed crops or to improve bad situations like poor health. According to available accounts, Laura did not stay in close contact with her family after she left Dakota. Her relationship with Almanzo does not seem to have been remarkable, and her relationship with her only child, Rose, was strained.
However, all of these mundane details coalesced to create some of the best books ever written. Many readers do not know that Rose was the impetus for the Little House phenomenon. She became a writer first, and she saw how she could help her mother to take the story of her life and turn it into beautiful literature. There is controversy about how much Rose helped. Some say that she was a full fledged ghost writer. In any case, it is safe to say that the Little House series was a mother/daughter collaborative effort.
A talented mother and daughter turned the memories of a difficult, pioneering life into books that I could not put down. I read and re-read them until they became part of my life experience. I know that I am one of many for whom the experience made me love reading more, made me wonder more about how other people in other times lived, made me see how good people lived in the world, and made me more alive in some way. I cannot say enough good things about these books.
Every child should read them, and every adult should read them again!
Book Review: A childhood favorite!
Summary: 5 Stars
Heroines: varied Travel westward in a covered wagon with the Ingalls family and experience the joys of family reunions, the daily drudgery of feeding chickens and milking cows, and the terror of tornadoes, sudden blizzards which dump yards of snow around you, and "wild" Indians who appear at your doorstep.
What worked for me:
These books just thrilled me as a child and they thrill me still as I read them aloud to my own children now. I love watching their fascination at what a struggle it was to survive in the rugged American wilderness, and can't help but smile as they absorb their first history lesson in such a painless fashion.
Size-wise Laura Ingalls was described as being round like a French pony, but she really longed to be willowy with golden curls like her older sister Mary. From the very first book we hear how five year old Laura was so disappointed with her appearance and see how she always measured herself against her sister's paler beauty.
What didn't work for me:
The only disappointment I have had with this series is that the final book is so short and lacks the warmth of the earlier novels, probably because Mrs. Wilder passed away before it was rewritten.
Overall:
Fans of historical and juvenile literature should enjoy these books. (And fans of romance should enjoy the later books when Laura meets her husband.)
Note: The series was the basis of the popular television show, "Little House on the Prairie".
Warning: The story is sweet and easygoing, but also deals with the harsh realities of life in that era. It is less than "PC" at times because it accurately depicts the general attitude towards native Americans in those days. If you are planning to read this to a youngster, be prepared for possible questions on these matters.
If you liked the "Little House" series you might also enjoy the "Anne of Green Gables" series.
Book Review: A must read for any young reader
Summary: 5 Stars
I adored these books as a young girl and I think they are outstanding! The books are so endearing, heart felt and a good read. The books give a modern reader perspective about what life was like after the Civil War (especially for a poor rural farming family) - there was no plumbing, no telephones, no electricity, no phones and of course no computers, cell phones, email or internet. The Ingalls might have been poor but there was plenty of love in that home - Pa worked hard tending the fields and support his family in less than desirable circumstances (locusts, failed crops, weather problems), while Ma cooked, cleaned, sewed and took care of her family. The children are respectful and expected to help out with the chores. If the Ingalls or their neighbors had any material possessions or luxuries, they always acted grateful and appreciative rather than uninterested and dissatisfied.
Although I have also read recently that it might have been Laura's daughter, Rose, who helped write these books, this is still Laura's family's story and her characters come to life by the excellent writing and details of what life was like in the US during that time. I watched the tv series as a young girl as well which I thought was good also(if a little preachy sometimes) but the series was very much Hollywoodized - whatever problems the tv Ingalls family and neighbors had seemed to solve themselves within one hour and even the log cabin seemed a little large for a poor farmer.
I have a 2 1/2 year old niece and one on the way and I cannot wait until they are older so I can buy these books for them. I hope they will enjoy them as much as I did when I was little and I will get a chance to relive the adventures of the Ingalls as an adult.
Book Review: Before there was Harry Potter ...
Summary: 5 Stars
If memory serves me correctly, I discovered Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" books around the age of seven. I do remember being the envy of my third-grade classmates when I received the entire boxed set AND "On The Way Home" for Christmas. Of course, newer generations only know Laura from the TV series, which, as an earlier reviewer remarked, was the epitome of schmalzy, rose-glassed views of pioneer life, but interestingly enough included some real incidents Laura never put in the books (the death of the baby brother and living in the hotel). The books, however, still stand the test of time. True, some of the harsher elements of frontier life are glossed over to an extent--these are books aimed at kids, after all--but overall the books are an fascinating study of life on the prairie in the post-Civil War years. Much like Harry Potter, the Little House books can be read and enjoyed by adults. My only quibble with the books is that I've always felt that there should have been another book between "On The Banks of Plum Creek" and "On The Shores of Silver Lake," since there's a jump of about five years between the two. According to some of Laura's biographers, however, Laura's family had some rough experiences during that time, so that might explain the lack. Still, there's a reason these books are classics--the descriptions are top-notch, they're moralistic without smacking you over the head, and they're just plain fun to read. I still have the boxed set (not the same one I got for Christmas, alas), and on snowy days in my own little house I find myself curled up in front of the fire with "Farmer Boy" or "These Happy Golden Years." Enjoy!