Little Town on the Prairie (1941)

Laura is growing up, still constrained by her society. Seriously, she's supposed to sleep in her corset? Some of the cultural differences are really striking- f'rinstance, this passage where Grace, who is all of four or five years old, starts to cry when her parents are going away for a week:

"'For shame, Grace! For shame! a big girl like you, crying' Laura choked out."

Yes, I know, Laura and Carrie are also trying not to cry, but the shaming is so toxic from my modern viewpoint that it skews the whole scene for me.

And then there's the 4th of July speech, cheered lustily by all the townsfolk:

"...They had to fight the British regulars and their hired Hessians and the murdering scalping redskinned savages that those fined gold-laced aristocrats turned loose on our settlements and paid for murdering and burning and scalping women and children..."

Again, context, context, context... but it's tough to swallow nonetheless.

There are some lovely scenes here, though. When Almanzo scoops Laura up and delivers her to school, when the best speller wins the spelling bee, when the letter comes from Mary, when Laura gives herself a lunatic fringe- those vignettes go a long way towards redeeming the book. ( )

See review for Little House #1... and add my personal opinion that sometimes Wilder gets waaaaaay too detailed about the clothing. I guess she was like many today who are really into clothes, but those were extraneous details to me. ( )

This book would work for most school ages; 1st+.
Most people are familiar with Little House on the Prairie stories and show; but this book is an addition to the series collection. This book takes the reader on a journey of Laura, Mary, and their friends as they deal with hardships while growing up. It was interesting to read about the lifestyle at their age versus more recent times.
I feel that students will benefit from learning of these differences. A chapter can be read aloud to the class on a daily basis. Students can work together foreshadowing their thoughts about the book and what will happen next.

Along with its predecessor, "The Long Winter", this is probably my favorite of the Little House series. The winter is over, and the Ingalls are back on their claim, farming. Laura realizes that she can assist her older sister by helping to earn money to send Mary to a school for the blind, and so applies herself to doing what is best, not necessarily what she wants.

I love Laura's spirit and sense of fair play, which is much more apparent in this volume. She really is growing up, and it shows...most of the time. ;) ( )

As appealing and delightful as all the series. I love the account of making Mary's dress. Yet read the description of De Smet: "The town was like a sore on the beautiful, wild prairie......" And "Ma hated Indians". There is a darker side to these books.