I'm not positive I read ALL of these, but probably most of them. Loved them.

The 'Little House' series is a charming series of novels depicting more-or-less the factual journey of the Ingalls family from the 'Big Woods' of Wisconsin to the praries in Dakota. The stories are sweet and unaffected with slight, subtle humor intermixed. Wilder's retelling of her own life story as well as she can remember it is written in a style that feels very juvenile. As such, one gets the idea that the stories were perhaps written to appeal to children, but in their simplicity, both children and adults can enjoy the accounts of the westward travelers.

From the first chapter of Little House in the Big Woods, Wilder is frank about certain dangers that the family faced, while showing that despite the difficulty of life on the frontier, people still went about their lives and found things to enjoy. Since Laura herself was so young in the telling of this story, the events shown are limited, but the stories are quaint and sweet and highlight the simplicity of the time in the post-civil war days.

Little House on the Prairie continues the story, telling what life was like when the family moved into 'Indian Country' in Kansas. It is interesting to read the story and read how they perceived the natives at the time, what their interactions were like and how they remembered the events. What was normal for that time would now probably end up in court for a case of discrimination. It also provides an interesting picture of what a mess it really was for those traveling west to try to find a homested and settle in on a claim. Without the proper paperwork, a family could end up having to uproot and move along. Sometimes it happened even with the proper paperwork. The Ingalls had to move along from there quickly and their leaving concludes the second book of the series. The style continues in a very simple fashion from the first book, possibly still because Wilder is writing the story of her young childhood which may affect how she herself perceived the time.

The next story in the series is an interesting departure. Instead of telling the next chapter of Laura's life, it tells a bit of Almanzo's. The Wilder family is different than the Ingalls family somewhat. The family at this point of the story is still in New York State and that provides a different picture of life than that of life on the prairie frontier. It gives us a little idea of who this Almanzo Wilder is, too, before he reappears later in the story. Of all the stories, I enjoyed this one, but it was my least favorite because of its departure from the story of Laura's family. It feels like an interjection rather than being a part of a chronological telling of the story. All the same, the characters in it are interesting and I felt like I was actually there thanks to the descriptions within. It's a good story that just doesn't seem like a true part of the book series.

On the Banks of Plum Creek is possibly one of the more interesting tales of the family's journeys. The live in a dugout, deal with blizzards and wild animals, but also have neighbors and a town close enough to visit when the weather isn't too bad. The cast of characters changes slightly because of the nearby town and suddenly life seems to be more than just about the Ingalls family. I liked the storytelling, too. Laura doesn't claim that she was a model child, or even that her sister Mary, though better behaved, was a model child. The two squabble, they struggle with tempers, jealousy, greed, temptation... normal human afflictions. I felt like I was a part of the lives of the people in the story, so alive they came off of the page.

At the beginning of the fifth book in the series, the family is moving yet again. Mary is blinded thanks to a bad bout with scarlet fever, so the lives of the Ingalls family are changed forever. They take their first train ride, the girls meet the first rough men in their memories and the family finally finds a place to settle down for good. It is a well-told story, but the events that happen in the book, the characters that are introduced and the settings described somehow pale to the ones from the previous books, and I felt I was left wanting for more with this set of stories. By the Shores of Silver Lake is probably my least favorite of the series, which I attribute to a lack of interesting secondary characters.

Once the family is settled in the new town of De Smet, they settle in for The Long Winter. The town is ill prepared for the winter that is to come, with temperatures lower than the thermometer can register and blizzards blowing more often than not. Supplies run low and people start to stretch what little they have as far as it will go. This is one of the more serious of the stories, and it highlights what kind of chances the settlers were taking by moving out to areas where the weather was unpredictable and likely unfamiliar to many of them, without the advantage of having time to have settled in and stored up in preparation for something like this happening. The events are well-told and it is interesting to read about the ingenuity that many of the townsfolk utilized to help get their families through the hard wintertime.

At the start of Little Town on the Prairie, there seems to be a shift from the other Little House books. Where previously in the stories, Laura has been a little girl, suddenly she is taking on real work, has an interest in what her clothes and figure look like and is taking notice of the things going on in town for purely social reasons rather than what seems fun to a little girl. A lot of this story focuses around the family's intent to get Mary to a college for the blind and then about Laura's school times and the social 'whirl' of town. The stories are sweet and quaint in a way that is classic and comforting. The things that were important to girls then is so different than now, and the stories told in this book highlight that while still making it interesting for the reader who may not understand the conventions of the time.

These Happy Golden Years is an interesting change from even just the previous book in the series, though certainly very different from the first six. Laura is more adult in the stories and even takes on real work of her own - as a teacher. Her trials with trying to control a class of students, some of whom were older than her, and venturing into her first romance. It's interesting to read about how the courtship between Laura and Almanzo came about and how, despite Laura's attempts to keep Almanzo away. Most interesting is Laura's own form of 'feminism', which greatly varies from that of even twenty years later. Laura is against using the word 'obey' in her wedding vows, but not particularly in favor of votes for women. The stories are sweet and subtly romantic, lacking the overtures and public displays of affection of subsequent generations and all the sweeter for it.

The last book typically included in the Little House series is the least like the others. As it was never edited, it lacks the polish that the other books have, and is more frank than any of the others about some of the harder aspects of life for the young Wilder family. It deals with drought and hard weather, plagues, disease and debt. Laura and Almanzo deal with a lot in that first four years of their married life, trying to make things thrive on their claim in De Smet four the three year trial of farming (stretched to four for a 'grace' period). Despite some of the positive things that happen for them in this book, this is definitely the saddest of the series. It is good, but not something that I could see myself going back to when I want something sweet and light-hearted.

All in all, the Little House books are classic. They're great for all ages, though all but the last seem to be written more with children in mind. The stories are touching and sweet and are a good diversion from more complex modern times. These are books worth keeping and revisiting. ( )

The 'Little House' series is a charming series of novels depicting more-or-less the factual journey of the Ingalls family from the 'Big Woods' of Wisconsin to the praries in Dakota. The stories are sweet and unaffected with slight, subtle humor intermixed. Wilder's retelling of her own life story as well as she can remember it is written in a style that feels very juvenile. As such, one gets the idea that the stories were perhaps written to appeal to children, but in their simplicity, both children and adults can enjoy the accounts of the westward travelers.

From the first chapter of Little House in the Big Woods, Wilder is frank about certain dangers that the family faced, while showing that despite the difficulty of life on the frontier, people still went about their lives and found things to enjoy. Since Laura herself was so young in the telling of this story, the events shown are limited, but the stories are quaint and sweet and highlight the simplicity of the time in the post-civil war days.

Little House on the Prairie continues the story, telling what life was like when the family moved into 'Indian Country' in Kansas. It is interesting to read the story and read how they perceived the natives at the time, what their interactions were like and how they remembered the events. What was normal for that time would now probably end up in court for a case of discrimination. It also provides an interesting picture of what a mess it really was for those traveling west to try to find a homested and settle in on a claim. Without the proper paperwork, a family could end up having to uproot and move along. Sometimes it happened even with the proper paperwork. The Ingalls had to move along from there quickly and their leaving concludes the second book of the series. The style continues in a very simple fashion from the first book, possibly still because Wilder is writing the story of her young childhood which may affect how she herself perceived the time.

The next story in the series is an interesting departure. Instead of telling the next chapter of Laura's life, it tells a bit of Almanzo's. The Wilder family is different than the Ingalls family somewhat. The family at this point of the story is still in New York State and that provides a different picture of life than that of life on the prairie frontier. It gives us a little idea of who this Almanzo Wilder is, too, before he reappears later in the story. Of all the stories, I enjoyed this one, but it was my least favorite because of its departure from the story of Laura's family. It feels like an interjection rather than being a part of a chronological telling of the story. All the same, the characters in it are interesting and I felt like I was actually there thanks to the descriptions within. It's a good story that just doesn't seem like a true part of the book series.

On the Banks of Plum Creek is possibly one of the more interesting tales of the family's journeys. The live in a dugout, deal with blizzards and wild animals, but also have neighbors and a town close enough to visit when the weather isn't too bad. The cast of characters changes slightly because of the nearby town and suddenly life seems to be more than just about the Ingalls family. I liked the storytelling, too. Laura doesn't claim that she was a model child, or even that her sister Mary, though better behaved, was a model child. The two squabble, they struggle with tempers, jealousy, greed, temptation... normal human afflictions. I felt like I was a part of the lives of the people in the story, so alive they came off of the page.

At the beginning of the fifth book in the series, the family is moving yet again. Mary is blinded thanks to a bad bout with scarlet fever, so the lives of the Ingalls family are changed forever. They take their first train ride, the girls meet the first rough men in their memories and the family finally finds a place to settle down for good. It is a well-told story, but the events that happen in the book, the characters that are introduced and the settings described somehow pale to the ones from the previous books, and I felt I was left wanting for more with this set of stories. By the Shores of Silver Lake is probably my least favorite of the series, which I attribute to a lack of interesting secondary characters.

Once the family is settled in the new town of De Smet, they settle in for The Long Winter. The town is ill prepared for the winter that is to come, with temperatures lower than the thermometer can register and blizzards blowing more often than not. Supplies run low and people start to stretch what little they have as far as it will go. This is one of the more serious of the stories, and it highlights what kind of chances the settlers were taking by moving out to areas where the weather was unpredictable and likely unfamiliar to many of them, without the advantage of having time to have settled in and stored up in preparation for something like this happening. The events are well-told and it is interesting to read about the ingenuity that many of the townsfolk utilized to help get their families through the hard wintertime.

At the start of Little Town on the Prairie, there seems to be a shift from the other Little House books. Where previously in the stories, Laura has been a little girl, suddenly she is taking on real work, has an interest in what her clothes and figure look like and is taking notice of the things going on in town for purely social reasons rather than what seems fun to a little girl. A lot of this story focuses around the family's intent to get Mary to a college for the blind and then about Laura's school times and the social 'whirl' of town. The stories are sweet and quaint in a way that is classic and comforting. The things that were important to girls then is so different than now, and the stories told in this book highlight that while still making it interesting for the reader who may not understand the conventions of the time.

These Happy Golden Years is an interesting change from even just the previous book in the series, though certainly very different from the first six. Laura is more adult in the stories and even takes on real work of her own - as a teacher. Her trials with trying to control a class of students, some of whom were older than her, and venturing into her first romance. It's interesting to read about how the courtship between Laura and Almanzo came about and how, despite Laura's attempts to keep Almanzo away. Most interesting is Laura's own form of 'feminism', which greatly varies from that of even twenty years later. Laura is against using the word 'obey' in her wedding vows, but not particularly in favor of votes for women. The stories are sweet and subtly romantic, lacking the overtures and public displays of affection of subsequent generations and all the sweeter for it.

The last book typically included in the Little House series is the least like the others. As it was never edited, it lacks the polish that the other books have, and is more frank than any of the others about some of the harder aspects of life for the young Wilder family. It deals with drought and hard weather, plagues, disease and debt. Laura and Almanzo deal with a lot in that first four years of their married life, trying to make things thrive on their claim in De Smet four the three year trial of farming (stretched to four for a 'grace' period). Despite some of the positive things that happen for them in this book, this is definitely the saddest of the series. It is good, but not something that I could see myself going back to when I want something sweet and light-hearted.

All in all, the Little House books are classic. They're great for all ages, though all but the last seem to be written more with children in mind. The stories are touching and sweet and are a good diversion from more complex modern times. These are books worth keeping and revisiting. ( )

I loved the Little House books! Biography and historical fiction were my favorite genres. ( )

This was, and is, one of my favorite series of books. The series is told from the point of view of Laura starting from her childhood in the "Big Woods" until her later years. She tells of the hardships and trials that her family went through during the 1800's. The books are so much better than the TV Show. ( )