Little Town on the Prairie

The town of De Smet is growing, as is Laura. Now 15, she is about to finish school, hopefully to get her teacher's certificate. Mary is sent to college, and little Carrie is a weak child, but growing too. A decent entry in the series, severely marred by one chapter, "The Madcap Days," which adds absolutely nothing to the story other than a heavy dose of racism. If that one chapter were simply ripped out, it would be a much better book. Since these stories are at least semi-autobiographical, I assume the dreadful minstrel show depicted in that chapter did actually happen, but that doesn't make it any less appalling to a reader today.

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 show more 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. show less

Digital audiobook performed by Cherry Jones
3***

Book seven in the popular classic Little House series, has Laura growing into a young lady. She feels that the new teacher, Miss Wilder, is unfairly picking on her and her sister. Nellie Oleson seems to be thwarting Laura at every turn. Mary has left to go to a college for the blind, and Laura takes on a part time job to help pay the expenses. The town is growing and with growth come new opportunities for socializing. Laura passes her examination to be certified as a teacher, and love begins to blossom.

I love this series for the way the pioneer spirit is portrayed and the strong family relationships.

THIS book, however, has a scene that is very uncomfortable for modern readers. The towns show more folks put on a minstrel show, including performers in blackface. I know this is historically accurate to the period, but I just cringed reading about it.

Cherry Jones does a fine job narrating the audiobook. I particularly like it when she sings the hymns or folk songs. show less

Wow, this is a tone shift from the previous one! Well, there is still 'blackbirds eat all our crops', but this is much more people living with people, Laura getting her first job, Laura going to school, Laura going to literaries and sociables, swapping name cards, going to birthday parties... it is very different from 'we are slowly freezing and starving to death'. And Almanzo is starting to court Laura (although she still seems more interested in his gorgeous horses than in him!)

This is my favorite book in this series. I love how hopeful it is. The farm is finally starting to produce and although they still have their challenges I love reading about how things are getting just a little bit easier. They now have a proper "house" with actual bedrooms. It was fun to read about how the town is starting to grow. It was bittersweet reading about Mary going away but exciting to know that now she is able to learn new things. I loved reading about all the events in town! The literaries were really fun and the birthday party. This is the period of the Little House "lifestyle" that I always fantasize about living in.
One thing that jumped out at me this time that I never really noticed before in the dozens of times I've show more read this book was "A grown-up person must never let feelings be shown by voice or manner." I wonder why this was. Why wasn't it okay to show any feelings, even surprise?
Another thing that just boggles my mind every time I read this book was during the school exhibition. How much more information they knew than people now. Being able to do the mental arithmetic. I'm sure there are still people that can do this in their head, but the majority of people that I know would not be able to divide 347,264 by 16 in their head.
This is a book that I really enjoy reading, even though I've read it dozens of times! show less

First sentence: One evening at supper, Pa asked, "How would you like to work in town, Laura" Laua could not say a word. Neither could any of the others. They all sat as if they were frozen.

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 show more 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.

I listened to Little Town on the Prairie on audiobook! It was fantastic! show less

A lot of this book focused on Laura’s time in school. Thanks to Nellie, who moved to town, the teacher hates Laura. Luckily she has sweet friends who stand by her. Laura also gets her first job, sewing shirts in town. She and her parents are saving money to send Mary to college and she is thrilled to be able to do her part.

It’s important to note that Ma’s hatred of the Indians and a black face musical show are unfortunate parts of the book. I know that those things were accepted in that time. I’ve use them to open conversations about prejudice with my kiddo. No matter when it’s written, it’s still not ok.