On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

This may be my favorite one yet. It was very enjoyable. I read it with my five year old who really liked it too.

Annnd Pa continues to make questionable decisions for his family.

Once again, I enjoyed seeing this historical era through the eyes of someone who lived it. Who knew a square broom as opposed to a circular one would be seen as a luxury to get excited about? And I hadn't thought about tumbleweeds catching on fire and threatening homes as they continued to roll as wheels of fire. I've heard of grasshopper clouds dimming the sun but to have it and the destruction the insects caused described was both frightening and fascinating. And of course, in the midst of it all, the Ingalls family continued to learn, grow, and be their lovable selves. So, I enjoyed this story and look forward to the next book. :)

Content Advisory:

No language or sexual content.

Mary tells Laura she'll get "brown as an Indian" if she keeps running around without her bonnet on.

Mention of many squished grasshoppers feeling slimy under bare feet.

The process of cutting up a fish for dinner is described but without mention of blood.

There is the threat of poverty, hunger, and even fire over the course of the book, but it never gets too intense and the Ingalls keep a positive, proactive attitude through it all.

A little girl at school who does not play well with others yanks Laura to the ground by her braids when Laura suggets playing a game other than the one the little girl wants to play.

This little girl is unkind in other ways as well including not letting Laura touch her favorite dolls and saying something disrespectful to Ma. Laura sometimes gets so mad at this girl she wants to slap her, but doesn't because she was taught never to strike another person. She does at one point however, get revenge by setting the girl up to get chased by a hermit crab.

Laura disobeys Pa and Ma several times and experiences both natural consequences and fair punishment from her parents. Once, she even comes close to drowning with no one around to save her. (She is, of course, okay, but upset after finally getting out of the situation.) To her credit, though, she does learn her lessons and doesn't do the wrong things again.

Laura writes with such joy of her childhood even though it was full of trials and tragedies.
I love this series and it makes me happy when my girls love it too.

2019 Read with Naomi and Julia
2019 A book for children or teens

2024 Read at bedtime with Naomi and Julia
2024 A book that won a prize (Newberry)

We have loved reading through this series during morning time.

It’s been so fun to listen to these books with my kids. My copies are threadbare from being read so many times. It’s been a delight to revisit the books I read and reread so many times.

It's easy to get so stuck on the subject matter of the stories Wilder tells that we fail to notice her brilliant, deceptively quiet writing. Her descriptions of scenery are gorgeous, of course; but I love the tiny sentences that tell so much, like this one when eight-year-old Mary and seven-year-old Laura are confronted by a wild herd of cattle:

Mary was too scared to move. Laura was too scared to stand still.

Or similarly simple descriptions of the girls waiting for their mother to come home:

The house was empty and still, with Ma gone. Ma was so quiet and gentle that she never made any noise, but now the whole house was listening for her.

Wilder understood that the impersonal forces of nature are far more frightening than any imagined monsters, because nature doesn't care and so it can't be pleaded with or placated. When it destroys life, it's not being cruel or even indifferent. It simply is. As Laura learns when she thinks she can play safely in the creek after a strong rain:

The coldness soaked into her. This was not like wolves or cattle. The creek was not alive. It was only strong and terrible and never stopping. It would pull her down and whirl her away, rolling and tossing her like a willow branch. It would not care.

Later, safe at home, Laura reflects:

The creek would go down. It would be a gentle, pleasant place to play in again. But nobody could make it do that. Nobody could make it do anything. Laura knew now that there were things stronger than anybody. But the creek had not got her. It had not made her scream and it could not make her cry.

I hate it when people think that writing for children is limiting and limited. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote for the entire world, or at least those members of the world who enjoy being captured and held willing prisoner by a story. She just happened to remember that children are an integral part of that group.

This was easily my favorite book of the series so far. The chapter length was perfect for reading out loud to my kids and most chapters read like its own little adventure. I also enjoyed how this book didn't go into super lengthy detailed descriptions, unlike the previous books. Parts of the book made us laugh out loud. We all enjoyed the stories from a simpler time, a time when people didn't have so much stuff and a pair of shoes where cherished. There were several important life lessons that expressed how important obeying, working hard and doing whats right really is.
This had fun stories about living at the creek, going to school for the first time, grasshoppers destroying crops, dangerous fires, blizzards and, yes, we get to meet Nellie Oleson for the first time in this book:D

If you are interested in reading a Laura Ingalls Wilder book and only want to read one..... I would suggest reading this one. It really is a great piece of literature that should not be forgotten.

Don’t turn away for one minute or that farmstead is going to dry up, burn up, get eaten by crickets, swallowed in endless blizzards, or done dirty by the daughter of the manager of the local mercantile.

I really enjoyed this story set in 1875-1877 with Laura Ingalls and her family. In this story, they first move into a home in the creek (a dugout) - makes me think of the hobbits homes :).

I liked the historical information - the swarm of the grasshoppers that wrecked their first wheat crop. We also meet Nellie Olsen and Willie Olsen - they are really obnoxious. It was funny I thought when Nellie ended up covered in leeches.

A lot of set backs in this one but I love this story.My favorite part was the Christmas at the church with Mary and Laura's first Christmas Tree.