The Long Winter (1940)

Such a wonderful cozy book. I'm currently re-reading it to Asher. Wonderful! ( )

4.5 stars

The Ingalls family has come to the Dakotas and is homesteading there. When there are early signs of a really bad winter, Pa decides they should move into town and live in their store, which is better insulated against the cold to come. This turns out to be a good choice, as this particular winter turns out to have blizzard after blizzard after blizzard hit, with few breaks in between. Due to all the blizzards, trains can’t get through to bring additional supplies – food, coal (for heat), etc.

I love these books! The series is so much fun to reread. This one, I thought, was so good at describing/capturing the cold of the prairie winters. I grew up on the Canadian Prairies and it can be cold. Of course, we are now very lucky to have the heating we do. I can’t imagine that kind of cold inside the house or the isolation they would have felt at the time, as well, with the trains not able to get to them! This really is an amazing series. ( )

This one was intense! The small community where the Ingalls live is stranded in a seven month blizzard. No trains with supplies are coming and everyone is beginning to starve. I know I’ll remember the vivid picture of Pa twisting hay to make logs for the fire and the girls using the coffee grinder on the wheat. The scene where the students head from school into town in the midst of a blizzard was harrowing. I loved getting to know Almanzo better. ( )

I love this series!!! These are my favorites!!! ( )

Yup, it's just as good as I remember. What a survival story. I think Wilder was pretty gutsy to depict that long slide into starvation and endless cold in a children's book. The fight against despair while trapped by a winter that lasted seven months was powerful. And setting the first two chapters in the hot summer was a brilliant move. I like the stories so much, I forget what a good writer she was. ( )