|
Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder:
LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS
Laura Ingalls Wilder
HarperTrophy
ISBN-10: 0060264306
ISBN-13: 9780060885373
Ages 8-12
224 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
• A List of Characters
Laura, her ma, pa, big sister Mary and baby sister Carrie live in a tiny log house in an enormous forest. They have no neighbors. Wolves, bears and panthers prowl the woods surrounding their home, but Laura's family is snug, safe and happy.
As winter approaches, they begin to store food and smoke the venison Pa hunts. Pa brings home an entire wagonload of fish, which the family salts down to preserve. They butcher a pig and use nearly every last bit to save for winter in the form of sausage, headcheese, ham and more. The two parts of the pig that aren't kept for winter are for Laura and Mary. They play with the pig's bladder, which is blown up and tied off just like a balloon, while roasting and eating the crisp, crackly meat from the tail.
Laura and Mary play in the attic where the winter's store of food is saved. The pumpkins make excellent play furniture. Strings of onions and peppers decorate the area, and smoked meats perfume the air. The girls also enjoy helping Ma with the chores. They churn cream into butter and bake bread. At night, Pa plays with them and tells them stories. Pa is a born storyteller who entertains his young listeners with family stories and tall tales. He can make a fascinating yarn out of his everyday activities such as finding honey or hunting for food. At evening's end, he soothes his family by making music with his fiddle.
Christmas is on the way. Pa whittles a shelf for Ma, who is busy baking treats like dried-apple pies, and family members arrive to join in the celebration.
Part of the great pleasure of the Little House books is the author's honesty. In LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS, Laura tells of being jealous of her sister's golden hair when her own is plain brown. There are frightening times for Laura and her family, too. Pa walks into town to sell the furs he's trapped but doesn't return when they expect him to. Ma and Laura go outside at night and see what they believe is the family cow. After Ma slaps the animal, she realizes she just struck a bear.
When I was in school and received an assignment to read a classic, I'd groan silently, positive that I was in for a dreary time. Yet so often I'd discover that the book was an excellent read. LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS is a classic sure to keep readers turning pages, unable to quit reading until "The End" --- and then reaching for the next book in the series.
Back to top.
FARMER BOY
Laura Ingalls Wilder
HarperTrophy
ISBN-10: 0060885378
ISBN-13: 9780060885373
Ages 8-12
400 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
• A List of Characters
Almanzo Wilder (who grows up to be Laura Ingalls's husband) lives on a farm and begins attending school when he is eight years old. He walks to the schoolhouse with his brother and two sisters, including bossy Eliza Jane. In Almanzo's safe and snug world, one thing terrifies him. Big boys from Hardscrabble Settlement are terrible bullies who have driven away two teachers by beating them up; one even died of his injuries. Almanzo fears for Mr. Corse, his kind and gentle teacher.
When he gets home from his first day of school, he participates in farm chores and delights in huge and delicious meals (such as ham, cheese, jam, milk, baked beans, homemade bread, potatoes, turnips, pumpkins, pickles, pumpkin pie, apples, cider and popcorn --- all in one evening!).
The next morning, chores begin at 5:00. Afterward, the family devours another enormous meal. Almanzo dreads school because he's afraid of what the Hardscrabble boys will do to Mr. Corse, but he must attend. All day long the suspense builds so strongly that some students cry, and no one can concentrate on their work. Yet Mr. Corse surprises everyone (although his solution would be illegal today).
Almanzo loves the colts and young horses more than anything, but he's not allowed to care for them. He must prove himself first. He's excited, though, when he's allowed to train the calves. On his ninth birthday he receives a thrilling gift: a calf-yoke and an entire day without school to train the calves. Almanzo thoroughly enjoys working with the calves, but it makes him yearn even more to do the same with the colts. Even playing with his new birthday sled can't distract him from his longing.
In FARMER BOY readers learn so much about early farming life: how farmers made candles, how they planted and reaped, how sheep were shorn, how wheat was threshed, how they made donuts, and so much more. Readers will enjoy Almanzo's story, although they may find themselves envious. A farmer boy's life sounds like great fun. Almanzo frequently stays home from school and enjoys sledding, fishing, berry picking and swimming. But his life is balanced by long hours of hard work. Even the labor sounds enjoyable, though --- except for watering frozen corn plants all night long.
Back to top.
LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE
Laura Ingalls Wilder
HarperTrophy
ISBN-10: 0060885394
ISBN-13: 9780060885434
Ages 8-12
336 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
• A List of Characters
Laura and her family leave their little house in the big woods to move to the plains of Kansas, because Pa feels that the forest has become too populated. Ma reluctantly agrees to leave their cozy home for unknown adventure. They sell the house, packing most of what they own into a covered wagon and setting off.
The sisters ride on a bed in the wagon, enduring many a monotonous day of travel. The family experiences excitement along the way: after crossing a frozen lake, the ice begins to crack. One day when crossing a high creek, the family dog, Jack, and the horses must swim. Pa gets in the water with them to coax them along. When the Ingalls's covered wagon emerges on land, all is fine --- except Jack is missing. After the family grieves and night has fallen, they see what they believe is a wolf approaching their campsite, but it turns out to be a miracle instead.
When the family settles on a spot in the wide flat prairie for their new home, Pa begins building their new log cabin. Despite a near-disastrous setback, the house is finally habitable thanks to the help of a new neighbor. Laura loves the openness, scent, animals and enormous skies of the prairie. However, huge wolves surround their home one night, watching ominously.
The new house soon has a fireplace and a sense of coziness. The girls help Ma with chores and then explore, hunting bird nests, watching prairie chickens, snakes, rabbits and other creatures. That cozy feeling is disrupted, however, when Pa is off hunting one day, and frightening and exotic visitors arrive. More danger enters the picture when Pa digs a well and encounters poisonous gas and quicksand. But the worst dangers lie ahead as the Ingalls fear native retribution over territory issues, culminating in a surprise ending to the story.
The Ingalls continue to persevere, using their courage, intelligence, hard work and family love. The descriptions of life on the prairie are fascinating and detailed. LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE will warm the hearts of readers, who will want to read the next book in the series immediately.
Back to top.
ON THE BANKS OF PLUM CREEK
Laura Ingalls Wilder
HarperTrophy
ISBN-10: 0060885408
ISBN-13: 9780060885403
Ages 8-12
384 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
• A List of Characters
Laura and her family are on the move again, traveling in their covered wagon across Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and into Minnesota. Here, Pa trades the horses and wagon cover for a new home on a new prairie. This little house is cozy and clean, with a ceiling of hay and a stable. They have an easy three-mile walk to town, but most of all, they feel safe and content.
Laura and Mary play most of the day along Plum Creek. Mary is good, but Laura doesn't always obey her parents --- and then her conscience eats away at her. Laura experiences more adventures, though. She meets a badger, milks a cow without being taught, and chases their ox when he runs off to stand on top of their house. Unfortunately, the ox causes the roof to cave in and the Ingalls suddenly have a big skylight (but not for long).
The Ingalls can't wait until the wheat crop is grown, harvested and sold. Then they will be rich, with silk dresses, a beautiful house and all the candy they can eat. Meanwhile, when Christmas arrives, Ma and Pa ask Laura and Mary to make a big sacrifice by wishing for a gift for the entire family --- a couple of work horses that Pa needs in order to grow wheat. Laura reluctantly agrees, although she's positive that her Christmas will be ruined.
In the spring, when the wheat comes up, Pa celebrates by buying lumber, shingles and windows for their house. He charges the purchase and will have to pay for the building materials when the wheat is sold. The house Pa builds is wondrous, with two rooms downstairs, an attic bedroom for Laura and Mary, glass windows and a marvelous wood cook stove. It also has machine-made doors, shingles, hinges, doorknobs and locks.
After the Ingalls move in, life is wonderful. The house is luxurious, and Laura and Mary discover a swimming hole nearby. But their perfect world crashes repeatedly as they face truly awesome trials.
ON THE BANKS OF PLUM CREEK marks the point in Laura's life when her world expands through school to include people who aren't family. She learns from a teacher while making friends and an arch-enemy. The story takes a much darker turn when the Ingalls suffer one incredible difficulty after another. Their burdens feel overwhelming, yet they pull together with their trademark loving closeness.
Although all the Little House books are delightful reads, ON THE BANKS OF PLUM CREEK is a more complex tale than the previous entries, making it a bit more thought-provoking and interesting.
Back to top.
BY THE SHORES OF SILVER LAKE
Laura Ingalls Wilder
HarperTrophy
ISBN-10: 0060885416
ISBN-13: 9780060885410
Ages 8-12
384 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
• A List of Characters
The Ingalls are on the move yet again as they travel west. Pa will work for the railroad while the family chooses the perfect homestead site. Much has changed since the previous book. The Ingalls have a new baby sister named Grace, and everyone except Pa and Laura had scarlet fever. Mary is blind because of it.
Pa travels on ahead to the railroad camps in the Dakota Territory. Ma and the girls follow, taking a train to meet up with him. The train ride is an exciting adventure and so is the meal at the town hotel. After Pa arrives, the family travels in their covered wagon to a temporary railroad camp.
At camp, Laura meets her cousin Lena. The two develop an instant rapport, sleeping in a tent and riding horses together. The family goes west to Silver Lake in the unsettled Dakota Territory. As they travel, Laura sees for Mary, describing the prairie scene in great, colorful detail.
At Silver Lake, the Ingalls's new home is a tiny shanty. They make it bright and homey with quilts, curtains and their own furniture. Pa's job as company store manager and bookkeeper is not without its dangers. Laura worries when the rough railroad men demand pay from him that they have not yet earned. The situation becomes tense and threatening but is defused by someone whom Ma never would have believed would come to his aid.
Pa and Laura would love to travel further west, but Ma wants to settle down. Pa finds a piece of land to homestead but can't travel in the storms to register it. Meanwhile, homesteaders are beginning to arrive in droves. Will he be able to claim the land he wants so badly?
BY THE SHORES OF SILVER LAKE is another great tale of the Ingalls pulling together through both hardship and joy. It's eye-opening to see how grateful they are over what seems insignificant to us: a warm fire, a nice neighbor, a good meal, a new handkerchief. By the end of the book, Laura has acquired a compelling life goal. Can she work hard enough (at a job she doesn't really want) to help Mary attend the college for the blind?
Back to top.
THE LONG WINTER
Laura Ingalls Wilder
HarperTrophy
ISBN-10: 0060885424
ISBN-13: 9780060885427
Ages 8-12
448 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
• A List of Characters
Laura is now 13 years old and determined to help Pa with the haying. She finally is able to persuade her parents --- and then she works hard. She's proud of what she accomplishes with Pa and grows stronger every day.
One day she and Pa spy a muskrat house. Pa shakes his head over the thick walls, predicting a difficult, cold winter. The family is worried since the claim shanty's thin walls can't protect them against freezing winter weather. While they ponder the problem, Laura and Pa rush to get the hay in.
Laura and Carrie walk into town to buy a mower part for Pa. On the way back, they take a "short-cut" that doesn't live up to its name. They get lost and end up on the Wilder boys' claim, meeting Almanzo Wilder (Laura doesn't know, of course, that he will someday be her husband) before they find their way home again.
There's a bitter frost on the first day of October, so the family must work quickly to bring in their vegetable harvest before it's frozen and ruined. Unfortunately, it's a small harvest, which bodes ill for winter meals. And when Pa hunts geese, he can't get one; they're all high in the sky, flying south.
An October blizzard freezes the air inside the Ingalls's little shanty. The nails in the walls are fuzzy with frost, snow blows across the floor, the stove can't warm the air, and even after the early blizzard, Pa and Laura notice more ominous signs of a terrible winter. The family decides that they must move into Pa's building in town to wait out the rough season.
Although the Ingalls make the building cozy and snug, Laura despises living in town. There are too many people and noises, and she and Carrie must attend school. Laura dreads being with strangers but puts on a brave front for Carrie's sake. Soon, though, the girls enjoy their new friends and the challenge of schoolwork. Mary also studies thanks to Laura, who reads her lessons out loud for her. However, their schooling is interrupted by a terrifying blizzard, followed by even worse weather.
The train can't bring the town's supplies, including food, coal for heat and kerosene for lamps. The Ingalls, as well as others in the town, inch toward starvation while one person --- Almanzo Wilder --- hoards his seed wheat.
Readers will suffer along with Laura and her family during THE LONG WINTER but will revel in their steadfastness and courage as they survive an almost unbelievable ordeal. Almanzo's story dovetails with Laura's as he stars in a heroic adventure that reveals his character.
Back to top.
LITTLE TOWN ON THE PRAIRIE
Laura Ingalls Wilder
HarperTrophy
ISBN-10: 0060885432
ISBN-13: 9780060885434
Ages 8-12
400 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
• A List of Characters
Now that the rough winter is over, the Ingalls family has moved back to their claim to enjoy springtime. However, they soon discover they have a big problem: mice. One even nibbles away some of Pa's hair as he sleeps one night. To the family's delight, Pa pays 50 cents (a fortune!) for a tiny kitten.
Laura has bigger concerns, though. She truly does not want to become a teacher. However, she knows that's the one way she can be sure her family will be able to afford to put Mary through college. Since Laura is 14, she must study hard in order to become a teacher at 16.
Meanwhile, Pa finds Laura a job in town sewing shirts. Laura is restless working inside on nice days, but she hopes that the money she earns will contribute to Mary's college fund. Her wages help some, but the Ingalls need the cash from their oats and corn crops for Mary's tuition. However, when blackbirds destroy both crops, Laura fears that Mary's chances for higher learning have also been destroyed.
The time comes for Laura and Carrie to return to school. Laura makes friends but is appalled to discover an old enemy attending her school: Nellie Oleson, who is as snooty as ever. Unfortunately, the new teacher, Miss Wilder, befriends Nellie. Laura worries over Carrie's frail health and defends her from Miss Wilder's unreasonable demands.
At the same time the teacher's brother, Almanzo, befriends Laura, who is confused by his attentions. She is also terrified that her problems with Miss Wilder may hamper her chances of becoming a teacher and helping with Mary's college education. Laura struggles as well with boredom and a sense of hopelessness; apathy causes her grades to suffer. However, it appears that Laura is not the only person fighting off a case of the blues. The townspeople unite to entertain themselves in a most enjoyable way, and very soon Laura's quest to become a teacher reaches a surprising conclusion.
Laura continues to be a realistically flawed yet endearing character. Her conflicts with Miss Wilder and Nellie, love for her family, and quandary over Almanzo Wilder contribute to yet another satisfying entry in the Little House series.
Back to top.
THESE HAPPY GOLDEN YEARS
Laura Ingalls Wilder
HarperTrophy
ISBN-10: 0060885440
ISBN-13: 9780060885441
Ages 8-12
416 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
• A List of Characters
Laura is just 15 but she's now a school teacher in Brewster settlement, a long 12 miles from home. Not only is she working at a job she never wanted, but she's also boarding in a horribly unhappy household. At school, three of her five students are older than she is --- and one, Clarence, is too full of mischief.
At the end of her first miserable week, she's amazed when Almanzo Wilder picks her up to take her home to Ma and Pa for the weekend. The two joyous days speed by, and Almanzo picks her up to go back to Brewster only too soon.
Laura will teach for two months and then return as a student to her own class back home, so she must study to keep up with her lessons. The studying provides a bit of an escape from the terrible apathy and tension in her host's home. But teaching is unbearable; the students are out of control, and Laura feels too small and young to make them behave.
Almanzo continues to appear each Friday and Sunday to take Laura back and forth between Brewster and home, but she can't figure out why he does it. Laura knows she's not good company; they can't even talk in Almanzo's horse-drawn sleigh because of the bitter cold.
Finally, Laura takes advice from Ma on how to handle her students, with heartening results. However, a horrifying incident at her host family home makes her fear for her very life. Unfortunately, Laura can't leave; there's nowhere else for her to stay, and she must teach to keep Mary in college.
THESE HAPPY GOLDEN YEARS chronicles Laura's entry into adulthood. As she grows into a woman, she encounters each stepping stone and recounts it in a realistic and interesting manner. She lives away from home, learns to cope with the responsibilities of jobs, deals with homesickness, falls in love and makes big choices about her life's path. The reader may feel pangs at the bittersweet ending but draw comfort from Laura's wisdom: "The end of one thing is only the beginning of another."
Back to top.
THE FIRST FOUR YEARS
Laura Ingalls Wilder
HarperTrophy
ISBN-10: 0060885459
ISBN-13: 9780060885458
Ages 8-12
160 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
• A List of Characters
As the story begins, it backtracks a bit to Almanzo's marriage proposal to Laura. Laura isn't sure she wants to marry a farmer, but Manly (Almanzo's nickname) persuades her to give it a try for three years. The two wed and travel to the house Manly built for them.
Their farming life begins immediately. The morning after their wedding, they eat an early breakfast so Manly can go help the neighbor thresh. Laura is alone but busy unpacking her belongings and fixing up the cozy little house.
She is a bit dismayed to discover that she's expected to make dinner for the large threshing crew the next day. Yet she manages to cook up quite a hearty and delicious-sounding meal --- except for a few glitches, such as undercooked beans.
The days roll by as the Wilders enjoy their life. Laura cooks, churns, cleans, launders, irons, sews and knits, but she's not content until she's out with Manly learning to plow and ride her very own pony.
As fall approaches, Manly watches the geese rushing south overhead and predicts a cold hard winter. In a few days, a violent blizzard suddenly blasts the farm. Manly almost loses his way between the barn and the house because of the blinding wind and snow. He makes it home safe and sound, but others are not as fortunate.
As spring approaches, Laura and Manly learn they will be parents. When Laura recovers from her morning sickness, she and Manly go for buggy rides. On one of these rides, Laura gazes at the fragrant wild roses and announces that their baby will be a girl. They will name her Rose.
Meanwhile, their wheat crop is excellent and will go for a good price. Laura begins dreaming of the ways they will spend their money, but soon the wheat is ruined by a hailstorm. Loss of their crop plus previous loans land the Wilders in financial trouble.
They move to a tiny homestead shanty where Laura's prediction comes true. Baby Rose is born, and she is a delight. However, the Wilders' problems are far from over. Both Laura and Manly become ill with diphtheria. Laura recovers, but Manly suffers side-effects, including difficulties walking. Although times have been difficult for the Wilder farm, Laura must admit that this is the life she wants to lead.
THE FIRST FOUR YEARS has a much more terse and factual tone than the previous Little House books since it was just a rough manuscript discovered after Laura died. Therefore, it lacks the revisions that most likely would have added warm details, dialogue and emotion to soften the telling of Laura's frequent harsh experiences. THE FIRST FOUR YEARS certainly does not paint a rosy, romantic picture of farming life in the late 1800s, as it's brutally realistic. Readers may find themselves a bit saddened to hear the unadorned facts of Laura and Almanzo's struggles. Still, fans will appreciate this peek into her early married life.
Back to top.
Little House Books by Cynthia Rylant:
OLD TOWN IN THE GREEN GROVES
Cynthia Rylant
HarperTrophy
ISBN-10: 0060885467
ISBN-13: 9780060885465
Ages 8-12
192 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
• A List of Characters
Laura Ingalls Wilder did not write a book about her eventful life in Burr Oak, Iowa, where the Ingalls family lived between their time on the banks of Plum Creek and the shores of Silver Lake. In the book series, they move directly from Plum Creek to Silver Lake, but in real life Ma and Pa worked and lived in a hotel in Burr Oak. Well-known author Cynthia Rylant wrote OLD TOWN IN THE GREEN GROVES to bring forth this part of Laura's life story, starting in 1875 when Laura was eight years old.
The story begins with the family spending the winter in a rented home in Walnut Grove, on the Minnesota prairie where Laura and her sisters enjoy attending school. Laura feels snug and safe from the winter blizzards that menace the area. One day, when the girls come home from school, they find a surprise: a beautiful baby brother they call Freddie.
Spring arrives, and the family moves back to their claim on Plum Creek. Laura is ecstatic; she loves Plum Creek and the wonderful house Pa built. However, life is not always easy there. It rains so hard that Plum Creek floods, Ma becomes ill with a life-threatening disease and the girls must fill her place as cook, housecleaner, baby-tender and more. When Ma gets better, the horrendous grasshoppers return to eat the crops and anything green and living. The family decides to move to Burr Oak, Iowa, where they will help friends run a hotel. On the way, they stay with family in Minnesota where the Ingalls experience great joy but also an unbearable tragedy.
In Burr Oak, the Ingalls lives in the hotel where they must endure the pesky Steadam boys' torments. Laura loves her new teacher, who reads the class novels and teaches them how to read poetry and other pieces with flair. Soon, the family moves again, into rented rooms above a grocery. Eventually, though, they live in a real house. Still, that is not the end of Pa's itchy feet, as he hears the call to travel west.
Cynthia Rylant's voice is seamlessly authentic in this addition to the original Little House books (if I didn't already know, I would have believed Laura had written it). As a fan, I was thrilled to discover this book, which fills in a gap in Laura's life, from the winter of 1875 to the fall of 1877. As always, spunky Laura's life is filled with adventures, sorrows and joys shared with her warm, loving family --- which makes for excellent reading.
Back to top.
The Girls of Little House
The Martha Years
Book 1: LITTLE HOUSE IN THE HIGHLANDS
Melissa Wiley
HarperTrophy
ISBN-10: 0061148172
ISBN-13: 9780061148170
Ages 8-12
160 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
• A List of Characters
Martha Morse will be Laura Ingalls Wilder's great-grandmother someday, but for now it's 1788 and she's six-and-a-half years old. She lives in Scotland in a big house called Stone House, and her father is Laird Glencaraid, owner of an enormous piece of land.
Martha loves her mother's stories about fairies, although she's concerned when a worker's wife has a baby and a guest hints that fairies could steal the boy. Martha is amazed at the many rules to follow in order to keep bad luck away from the child, including not saying his name out loud until he's christened.
When Martha and her family go to the church for the christening ceremony, they travel across the lake by boat. Martha watches for the water fairy along the way. Martha's sister, Grisie, carries the baby to the church; as an unmarried lass and the laird's daughter, this will bring the child good luck. The church is in Clachan, a tiny village with just four stores, the church and the school, but it looks enormous to Martha.
Martha is a tomboy, although she is expected to act like a young lady. She hides a piece of very soiled clothing in quite an unusual place --- under the pillow of a visiting laird, who reacts in an unexpected manner. When Martha tires of being too young to learn to spin, she decides to seek help from the village medicine woman. What she learns there amazes her.
LITTLE HOUSE IN THE HIGHLANDS is another fun read, with a plucky, likable main character and the bonus of learning about fascinating Scottish ways.
Back to top.
The Charlotte Years
Book 1: LITTLE HOUSE BY BOSTON BAY
Melissa Wiley
HarperTrophy
ISBN-10: 0061148288
ISBN-13: 9780061148286
Ages 8-12
160 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
• A List of Characters
Five-year-old Charlotte Tucker (Laura Ingalls Wilder's grandmother-to-be) notices there's no molasses for Saturday night supper's corn pudding. Her family explains it's all due to the war that started with England two years ago, in 1812. Because the British are blocking Boston Harbor, ships carrying molasses can't enter. Suddenly, Charlotte's cozy little world expands --- and it's not a very comfortable feeling.
Will, who works at Charlotte's father's blacksmith shop and boards with the Tuckers, usually chats about fun things like birds, but even he is talking about the war constantly. Mama is against the war, saying that the United States is greedy to want Canada. However, Charlotte's brother Lewis sides with Will, claiming they need to win the war to remain Americans. This sets Charlotte to worrying: What would happen if they lost the war? Still, her concern doesn't stop her from enjoying her sixth birthday party or the doll she receives as a gift.
Before Charlotte knows it, she is on a countdown to the first day of school. But Mama learned so much growing up in Scotland that Charlotte decides she will just walk there. That way, she won't need to go to school. On her way, though, she meets up with someone she knows very well --- Papa, who gives her a scolding and company home. Imagine Charlotte's relief when she attends school and finds it enjoyable after all.
The Tuckers draw close through good times and bad: parties, harvests, watching loved ones leave for war, and much more. Little House fans will devour this addition to the series, chock-full of fascinating history details as well as old-fashioned domestic tidbits (who knew that housewives kept sand on the kitchen floor to soak up grease?), songs, folk tales, a recipe and games.
Back to top.
The Caroline Years
Book 1: LITTLE HOUSE IN BROOKFIELD
Maria D. Wilkes
HarperTrophy
ISBN-10: 0061148210
ISBN-13: 9780061148217
Ages 8-12
144 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
• A List of Characters
LITTLE HOUSE IN BROOKFIELD begins the story of Laura Ingalls Wilder's mother, Caroline Quiner, at six years of age, as imagined by the author. Caroline lives in the busy town of Brookfield, Wisconsin, with her family, which includes five siblings but no longer their dad (except in memory). Ever since Father sailed away a year ago and never returned from a storm at sea, Caroline's family has been recovering from their grief. Father's mother also lives with them; Mother is grateful for her help, and the entire family loves hearing her tales of Father as a rambunctious boy.
The children work at regular chores. Caroline's include drying dishes, dressing her little sister, feeding chickens and retrieving eggs. Grandma teaches her how to sew, too. A trip into the bustling town with her mother is a huge treat, during which they get to catch up with friends and go to the store.
When a sudden frost arrives, Mother, Grandma and the older children stay up all night to harvest and save their vegetable crop. In the morning they're exhausted, but Caroline gives them a wonderful surprise before they begin to preserve their bounty.
Caroline's family grows hungry without the fish and meat normally provided by Father. They sing and play games in an attempt to forget about their empty bellies. And Caroline has her birthday to look forward to. Although it turns out to be a delight, the approach of Christmas makes her miss Father more than ever. Meanwhile, Mother has no flour to make her special holiday bread. Is there a Christmas miracle in store for the Quiners?
Filled with games, songs and stories --- and the experiences of a warm, close-knit family who endure hardship by drawing comfort from each other --- LITTLE HOUSE IN BROOKFIELD is another enjoyable Little House read.
Back to top.
The Rose Years
Book 1: LITTLE HOUSE ON ROCKY RIDGE
Roger Lea MacBride
HarperTrophy
ISBN-10: 0061148091
ISBN-13: 9780061148095
Ages 8-12
176 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
• A List of Characters
Rose is stunned when her parents, Laura and Almanzo, announce they are leaving South Dakota to start a farm in Missouri. Rose can hardly handle the sorrow of parting ways with Grandma and Grandpa, or Aunt Mary, who promised to teach her how to read Braille. But Rose's relatives encourage the young family to start anew after their many tragedies and setbacks on the plains. After all, their future lies in the wonderful state of Missouri, where their farm will have plenty of room and water for crops and animals.
Soon they are on their way, traveling from the plains in a covered wagon just as Rose's mother did as a young girl. The Wilders share the journey with their friends, who help to make every evening spent under the stars and cooking over a fire a wonderful party. Rose is not so sure that staying in their destination could be any better than the journey to get there.
When they arrive in Mansfield, Missouri, the Wilders know they are home. Imagine their delight when they finally find the perfect farm --- and then their sorrow when their down-payment savings go missing. However, the Wilders never give up their faith that all will turn out fine for them.
Fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder will devour this delightful story, told from the viewpoint of her daughter.
Back to top.
Other Writings About Laura Ingalls Wilder:
LAURA INGALLS WILDER: A BIOGRAPHY
William Anderson
Collins
ISBN-10: 0060885521
ISBN-13: 9780060885526
Ages 8-12
256 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
After I read the Little House books recently, I was plagued with questions about Laura and her life. How much of the fictionalized series was absolutely true to life? What happened to Laura's family members as they grew older, and to Laura and Almanzo? I was absolutely delighted to find LAURA INGALLS WILDER: A BIOGRAPHY, which is fascinating in its thorough coverage of Laura's life.
The story actually starts before Laura's birth. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln passed the Homestead Act of 1862, which gave free land to people who were willing to build houses on their claims, plow their land and live on it for six months each year. The Homestead Act was irresistible to thousands of plucky pioneers, including Laura's parents. Pa, in particular, felt the pull of the free land and traveled in search of the ideal spot, moving his family several times to locate it. This search for the perfect home shapes Laura's story and her life.
William Anderson also talks about the lives of Ma and Pa, from their respective beginnings. Charles Ingalls was just a boy when he learned to play the fiddle that would later delight and comfort his daughter Laura and the rest of his family through their good and bad times. Teenager Charles was very popular because of his music and personality. We also learn about "capable and steadfast and firm" Caroline, who taught school until Charles asked her to marry him (only single women could teach back then). One question I have that was never answered is why Caroline felt such aversion to Native Americans, especially since it appears her father had a good relationship with the natives he traded with --- and those friendly Native Americans helped feed Caroline's family when she was young and her father had just died.
This book is especially enjoyable and interesting in the periods not covered by Laura's books. Almanzo, Laura and Rose moved to green, hilly Missouri after enduring the horrendous hardships detailed in THE FIRST FOUR YEARS. On the way, she wrote letters back to her family in De Smet and sent one to the editor of the De Smet newspaper. He published it, which delighted Laura; she saved a clipping of the newspaper story, writing across the top, "First I ever published."
Laura's love of her new home in Missouri, plus her slow but steady writing career (culminating in fame that embarrassed her), makes for a delightful, heartening aftermath to the bleak recounting of adversity in THE FIRST FOUR YEARS. The author clearly respects Laura's life, writings and memory, and has given fans a great gift in this full and detailed biography.
Back to top.
More About Little House:
THE LITTLE HOUSE GUIDEBOOK
written by William Anderson
photographs by Leslie A. Kelly
Collins
ISBN-10: 0061255122
ISBN-13: 9780061255120
Ages 8-12
96 pages
• Click here to buy from Amazon.com
I read a number of the Little House books recently, and when I finished I was fired up to learn more about Laura and her family. Even though I can't plan a trip in the near future to visit the places Laura called home, I loved reading about each spot in THE LITTLE HOUSE GUIDEBOOK.
Each chapter discusses the location of each "little house," including places that Laura lived in but didn't write about. Almanzo Wilder's homes are also included. We see photographs and read descriptions of what each place looks like now, how and when each spot was honored as a Laura Ingalls Wilder historical site, along with suggestions for interesting places to visit and stay.
The first chapter, which deals with "the little house in the big woods" of Pepin, Wisconsin, tells the tale of how Charles and Caroline Ingalls (Laura's parents) were among the earliest settlers of western Wisconsin. One interesting note: the house in the big woods was actually the Ingalls's home twice. The family sold the land once, moving to Kansas. However, the buyer quit making payments and the Ingalls returned. As with many of Laura's little houses, the original cabin is gone but visitors can tour a replica.
The next chapter discusses the setting of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, near Independence, Kansas. Here we learn more about the land issues between the Native Americans and the settlers, which eventually prompted the Ingalls to leave their prairie home.
The following chapters cover Plum Creek, near Walnut Grove, Minnesota; the Masters Hotel in Burr Oak, Iowa (covered in OLD TOWN IN THE GREEN GROVES, written by Cynthia Rylant); and De Smet, South Dakota (otherwise known as "The Little Town on the Prairie" and also covered in the books BY THE SHORES OF SILVER LAKE, THESE HAPPY GOLDEN YEARS and THE FIRST FOUR YEARS).
Laura and Almanzo eventually moved to the Ozarks in Mansfield, Missouri, where they established Rocky Ridge Farm. Here, visitors can tour their white farmhouse, kept just as the Wilders had it in the 1940s and 1950s, along with the Rock House that daughter Rose had built for Laura and Almanzo in 1928.
Almanzo's houses come next: his boyhood farm home in Malone, New York, still stands and can be toured. Almanzo's parents moved to Spring Valley, Minnesota; although their Minnesota farmhouse is long gone, rabid Wilder fans may want to visit the town museums and the graveyard where Almanzo's brother Royal is buried.
Speaking of fans, THE LITTLE HOUSE GUIDEBOOK is fascinating for Laura's many admirers. It's eye-opening to read about these various locations. The photographs by Leslie A. Kelly are a fine addition, giving readers a view of each area and a peek into how people lived back in Laura's time.
--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon ---
(terryms2001@yahoo.com)
Back to top.
|
