Little House in the Big Woods

While again, it’s not a magical world, it might as well have been. I was transported and transfixed to a different time and place. I could smell the linen baking dry in the sun as it hung in the open air and open fires that crackled and sparked as bacon sizzled on a cast iron pan. I shivered as they woke up one morning covered in a blanket of snow. I tasted the Christmas orange that was received with such joyful excitement. It made me want to like fruit–which, sadly, didn’t stick.

More importantly, it made me recognize the beauty… show more.

I read this book and the entire series as a child and then read it to (or with) my children.

I love the way it recounts the author’s early childhood in the 1870s, a much more work-filled and challenging time for a child, and how it evokes the way any small child feels in a huge world full of mystery. I also love the way Laura was so observant of her world, how she learned life skills from her family and to take joy in everything, from the seasons to celebrating life events large and small.

Her later books are… show more.

Chances are your kids can’t imagine a world without indoor plumbing, cars, or airplanes, or even grocery stores (truly a nightmare for some of us adults, too).

Adding in some good American history, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s book series walks you through her early childhood, where we meet Pa, Ma, Mary, and baby Carrie, and other members of their extended family. During this time, Ma and Pa work hard to make their home in Minnesota warm during the winter, Ma pickles a pig’s head, Laura fights with her cousins, and she and her sister must learn to share and do their… show more.

This was my favorite book as a child and the first chapter book I read at age 7. It is a delight that my grandchildren love it now.

My grandkids, Maeve and James, love this book and the television series Little House on the Prairie. Though many of the problems the family faces in this hardscrabble life happened more than a hundred years ago, Maeve and James empathize with the same issues that Ingalls writes about: loss of a sibling, school issues, the bully in town, the challenges of running a farm (house, condo, cabin, etc.).

There is something… show more.