Little House in the Big Woods (The Little House on the Prairie)

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The story begins when the family is about to leave Plum Creek shortly after the family has recovered from the scarlet fever which caused Mary to become blind. The family welcomes a visit from Aunt Docia, whom they had not seen for several years. She suggests that Pa and Ma move west to the rapidly developing Dakota Territory, where Pa could work in Uncle Henry's railroad camp at very good wages for that era. Ma and Pa agree, since it will allow Pa to look for a homestead while he works. The family has endured many hardships at Plum Creek, and Pa especially is anxious for a new start. After selling his land and farm to neighbors, Pa goes ahead with the wagon and team. Mary is still too weak to travel, so the rest of the family follows later by train. [36] The love, and friendship, and happiness Laura experiences along with the harsh and hungry winters truly makes for a wonderful story. The book also describes other farm work duties and events, such as the birth of a calf; the availability of milk, butter and cheese; gardening; field work; hunting; gathering; and more. Everyday housework is also described in detail. When Pa went into the woods to hunt, he usually came home with a deer and then smoked the meat for the coming winter. One day he noticed a bee tree and returned from hunting early to get the wash tub and milk pail to collect the honey. When Pa returned home on winter evenings, Laura and Mary always begged him to play his fiddle, but he was too tired from farm work to play during the summertime. [31] Later in the series, the family moved away from Wisconsin to a homestead in Kansas, as territory in the West was being given to settlers. Later they moved on to Minnesota. This reflects the time period in the 1800s during which farmers and many others were migrating westward into the American frontier.

Dear Laura: Letters from Children to Laura Ingalls Wilder (Harper, 1996), 152 pp., "children's letters from the 1930s through the 1950s", OCLC 32166284 The story of the first book in the series, Little House in the Big Woods, revolves around the life of the Ingalls family in their small home near Pepin, Wisconsin. The family includes mother Caroline Lake Quiner Ingalls, father Charles Phillip Ingalls, eldest daughter Mary Amelia Ingalls, middle daughter (and protagonist) Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder, and youngest sister Carrie. [3] [4] Although Laura turns five years old during the book, the author was actually only three years old during the real-life events documented in the novel. According to a letter from Wilder's daughter, Rose, to biographer William Anderson, the publisher had Laura change her age in the book because it seemed unrealistic for a three-year-old to have such specific memories. [5] For the sake of continuity, in Wilder's later book, Little House on the Prairie, Laura portrayed herself as between six and seven years of age. The Laura Ingalls Wilder Country Cookbook (Harper, 1995), Ingalls Wilder, ed. Anderson, photos Leslie A. Kelly, LCCN 94-42326 – features recipes from Ingalls Wilder's personal collection, OCLC 31433784 The style is simple and matter-of-fact. The author seems to have given some attention to making the novel easy to read, but the style is natural, not condescending; it seems appropriate to the thoughts and actions of a little girl. In fact, in the later Little House books, as Laura grows up, the style becomes gradually more sophisticated. Although Laura relates her thoughts, the book's emphasis is on action, not reflection.

Chapter 1.

Time ranks the Little House series as 22 out of 100 of the "100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time." [9] They are considered classics of American children's literature and remain widely read. In a 2012 survey published by School Library Journal, a monthly with primarily U.S. audience, Little House in the Big Woods was ranked number 19 among all-time best children's novels, and two of its sequels were ranked among the top 100. [10] Five of the Little House book have been Honor Books for the Newbery Medal. In 1938, On the Banks of Plum Creek was an Honor Book; in 1940, By the Shores of Silver Lake was as well. Later in 1941, The Long Winter became an Honor Book, and the two later Honor Books were The Little Town on the Prairie, in 1942, and Those Happy Golden Years, in 1944. [11] In addition to this, the American Library Association stated that The Long Winter, the seventh book in the series, was a "resource for teaching about pioneer history." [12] Depiction of minorities [ edit ] Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder is a story that tells of Laura’s early childhood and upbringing in Wisconsin during the 1870s. R Each book contains lyrics to folk or patriotic songs. See The Laura Ingalls Wilder Songbook reference below for full lyrics and music. To be honest, I didn't know how this particular reading experience was going to go. This child, my third child, is my “Janis Joplin.” She moves around quite a bit while I'm reading to her, often humming or singing under her breath, and she's the most challenging of my kids to engage. Fraser, Caroline. Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Metropolitan Books, 2017.

Some adults may feel that the world of the Little House is so long ago and so "good" as to seem irrelevant to young people now. Although the social environment of the books is much different from today's, Laura is easy to identify with, thus bridging the time gap. The characters are all good people, yet Laura has enough inner struggles to make her seem real. Stephen W. Hines (Nashville: T. Nelson Publ., 1994), I Remember Laura, ISBN 0785282068, 274 pp., illustrated – "with articles, interviews and recollections of friends and neighbors, focusing on her later life", OCLC 30669843 Stories about Laura's mother, Caroline Quiner Ingalls written by Maria D. Wilkes (vols. 1–4) and Celia Wilkins (vols. 5–7):The story begins when the family is about to leave Plum Creek, shortly after the family has recovered from the scarlet fever which caused Mary to become blind. The family welcomes a visit from Aunt Docia, whom they had not seen for several years. She suggests that Pa and Ma move west to the rapidly developing Dakota Territory, where Pa could work in Uncle Henry's railroad camp. Ma and Pa agree, since it will allow Pa to look for a homestead while he works. The family has endured many hardships on Plum Creek and Pa especially is anxious for a new start. After selling his land and farm to neighbors, Pa goes ahead with the wagon and team. Mary is still too weak to travel so the rest of the family follows later by train. John E. Miller (U. of Kansas, 1994), Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little Town: Where History and Literature Meet, ISBN 0700606548, 208 pp., Google Books That summer and fall, the Ingalls again plant a garden and fields, and store food for the winter. Pa trades labor with other farmers so that his own crops will be harvested faster when it is time. Not all work was farming. Hunting and gathering were important parts of providing for the Ingalls as well. When Pa went into the woods to hunt, he usually came home with a deer and then smoked the meat for the coming winter. One day he noticed a bee tree and returned early to get the wash tub and milk pail to collect the honey. When he returned in winter evenings, Laura and Mary always begged him to play his fiddle; he was too tired from farm work to play during summer. [4] In the winter, they enjoyed the comforts of their home and danced to Pa’s fiddle playing. Anita Clair Fellman (U. of Missouri, 2008), Little House, Long Shadow: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Impact on American Culture, ISBN 0826266339, 360 pp., Google Books