Thursday, March 26, 2015

Little Town on the Prairie

Little Town on the Prairie. Laura Ingalls Wilder. Illustrated by Garth Williams. 1941. 374 pages. [Source: Library]

 I enjoyed rereading Little Town on the Prairie. Is it completely perfect in every way? Probably not. (The idea of Pa joining in a minstrel show performance still doesn't sit well with me. Just like I don't like the dialogue of the Native American in The Long Winter--when he warns them of the winter ahead. But other than that, I don't have any real issue with the book). In this book:

  • The family moves back to their homestead for the summer and fall
  • The Ingalls get a cat AFTER Pa's hair is "cut" by mice in the night!
  • Laura gets a job assisting a seamstress
  • Laura and Carrie and Pa go to a fourth of July celebration; lemonade is involved
  • Blackbirds come and threaten numerous crops; some of the corn is saved and will be dried for winter consumption
  • Mary goes away to college
  • The family moves back to the town for the winter
  • Laura and Carrie attend school
  • Nellie Oleson is one of the 'country' girls attending school
  • Nellie becomes teacher's pet; the new teacher is Eliza Jane Wilder
  • Laura gets her first ride behind Almanzo's horses (she's running late for school, she had to order name cards)
  • A Literary Society (of sorts) is formed in town for the winter
  • The book actually covers TWO winters in town, but, we barely learn anything about the spring/summer/and fall in between the winters.
  • Laura attends several revival meetings and Almanzo asks to see her home each night!
  • Almanzo hints that he wants to take her sledding.
  • Laura gets her teaching certificate
Plenty of lovely things happen. I love the progression of the series. This book just makes me smile as I'm reading it. I often forget just how much I like this one since I love, love, love THE LONG WINTER, and I always associate These Happy Golden Years with having THE romance. I don't give this one enough credit for being OH-SO-GOOD.

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If I get the chance, I will re-read The Long Winter every winter, but then I always HAVE to read Little Town on the Prairie and These Happy Golden Years too! :)

Lorna

Barbara H. said...

I think this one is next in the series for me. I like that they're finally getting settled.