This was the first of the Little House books so far that I just couldn't wait to finish reading. The first thing that I disliked was the fact that 4 or more years went by between the last book, On the Banks of Plum Creek, and this one. In that time two babies were born, one of the babies died, everyone but Pa and Laura had scarlet fever, and Mary went blind. No where in this book was it EVER mentioned that Laura had had a baby brother and he died. Then Jack dies. I loved Jack. He was...a good dog. He was a wonderful companion, Laura's best friend, and a great family protector. His dying broke my heart.

The Ingalls move yet again in this book. Reading about the grating and scraping for the railroad was hideously boring. Lots of reading about making dinner. And supper. And breakfast. Laura, it is shown, has no backbone and never sticks up for herself, and Mary, even after going blind, is a saintly, annoying turd who can do no wrong and is ALWAYS right. Carrie is negligible. Grace, at one point, gets lost and doesn't get punished, even though she was the same age as Laura was in the first book, in which she was punished when she did something wrong.

Overall, this book was terrible. Hopefully the next one is better.

Like every book in the series this one is filled with moments of poignant hardship (Mary going blind) and sweet levity. Pa’s wanderlust hasn’t rested, but he’s agreed for Ma’s sake to stay put. About time, is what I have to say to that. She put up with a lot, that woman.

I like that the writing style seems to change and become more interesting to read as Laura herself grows older. While it is interesting to learn more about the life on the prairie, I'm missing the exciting punch and pizzazz that I'm used to with science fiction, fantasy, and young adult literature. The prairie is fine to visit, but I'm looking forward to my next futuristic/ fantasy realm to dive into.

I've always thought that this is where the series really started to grow up and mature, much like Laura herself. Sure, bad things happened in previous books, but you never really felt it, quite like you do here. I still always cry about Jack, and I always feel so sad about Mary, and about how Laura takes it upon herself to make sure Mary gets to go to college, no matter what Laura has to do.

ENOUGH with the singing

I thought they lived in the last town, at Plum Creek, so this book was a surprise.
So much was different: No more living on the prairie or using the covered wagon.
Mary’s blindness from scarlet fever has settled in her eyes.
Jack dying.
I couldn’t believe Laura was almost 13; so much time had passed!

The meek housewife role is a bit sickening; Ma not wanting to move, yet telling Charles whatever he thinks is best. Ugh.

It amazed me how much Mary could still pick up on, her positivity and how she could tell someone was tall by the location of their voice.

There was the cup of water and a faucet on the train that everyone shared—yikes! But interesting, because I didn't know they had that invention on trains.
The railroad turntable was so interesting, how it turned around so the train and engine were facing the other way and could go back down the track. And people called the train the Iron Horse.

When Laura wishes Pa were a railroad man: ‘But of course not even railroad men were bigger or better than Pa, and she did not really want him to be anything but what he was.’

There were roller towels, with each end sewed together, not real sure what that was.

I wish the chapters were numbered, so you could get an idea of where you are in the story.

Laura seeing old Indian trails and buffalo paths through the prairie was really cool.

There are helpful mentions of the previous books to get you up to speed. I remember Cousin Charley, the one stung by yellow jackets.

It was sweet when Mary said “You make pictures when you talk, Laura.”

It was funny with Laura wanting to hear rough language from the men working on the grade.

Ma’s opinion on Indians was disappointing, calling them savages and saying you can’t trust a half-breed. Pa pointed out a full-blood saved them from scalping on the Verdigris.

I couldn’t understand the railroad work, the half circle of the plow and then the scraping. And why it’s called a grade... I usually can't picture it when the author is trying to describe things, how things work, in any of the books, and this was no exception.

I didn’t understand the horse thieving chapter, where the men wanted to shoot Big Jerry and waited for him at the stables. But he didn’t end up showing up that night and Pa said there’d be tired men at the grade. And that there wouldn’t be any more horse stealing at silver lake. Why wouldn't there be any more horse thieving?

Big Jerry was cool, how he stood head and shoulders above everyone else, with his white horse that was a blur in the dark.

Big Jerry helped Pa out, by pretending he was with the rioting workers, against Charles and wanting their paychecks from him, but really helping Charles and leading them away.
It was funny to me that people got upset about their two weeks' pay, how there's that delay while waiting for the previous two weeks pay, because that's how it is now. There's that delay every two weeks. 

‘Better a live dog than a dead lion.’

I loved that Laura wouldn’t have paid the men,& that she didn’t agree with what her mom said.

This starts out in September, good timing for me to read this.
Birds know when winter is coming so they fly from the north to the south, end they start out early enough so they can rest on the way.

I didn’t like when Pa said Ma was a teacher and her mom before her, and her heart was set on one of the girls teaching and it would have to be Laura. You can’t make someone be a teacher and there was Carrie and Grace, too.

There’s the man having Charles write a phony paper to serve a man to get the guys money back from someone who didn’t pay the total amount for a team of horses,& he got another guy to act as sheriff. That was humorous.
That would have been a good episode on the show!

Pa mentioned in Laura's lifetime everyone would ride the train and no one would use wagons anymore.

I love all the info on the time period, how people came from all over the world for the prairie cure, about the only thing to cure consumption.
And buffalo wolves are the largest wolves on the prairie.

Pa’s way late for lunch(dinner to them) and when he gets there Ma’s like “It doesn’t matter, Charles; I’ve kept dinner warm. Come to the table, girls! Don’t keep Pa waiting.”
They've been waiting on him, and he can't wait a minute for them?!

“All they did here was to stop one night at the old den. And I wouldn’t wonder if they’re pretty nearly the last buffalo wolves that’ll ever be seen in this part of the country.”
“Oh, Pa, the poor wolves,” Laura mourned.
“Mercy on us,” Ma said briskly. “There’s enough to be sorry for, without being sorry for the feelings of wild beasts! Be thankful the brutes didn’t do any worse than scare you girls last night.”
-It's sad knowing they were seeing the last of a species. Also, Ma seemed to be at odds with Laura a lot in this book.

They never saw Mr. Edwards again after he left down the Verdigris River. I like that the show changed that. He was mentioned in here, Pa saw him, but the girls didn't. He was moving not too far from them though.

Pa said they wouldn’t want a Christmas tree just for themselves. What a crazy notion!
The jingle bells song said “in a one-hoss open sleigh!” which was funny.

I liked Mr. Boast, and when he came back with his new bride. He wrapped her up in blankets tightly and led the horse for her so she could keep her hands wrapped up.
Ma was very selfless, giving Mrs. Boast her best Sunday handkerchief and giving Mr. Boast the wristlets she had knitted for Pa for Christmas, so their guests could have gifts.

They drink tea in cold weather instead of coffee. And they ate Johnny cakes, which sound good.

Christmas was good, sharing with friends& all the food and popcorn surprise.
“Every Christmas is better than the Christmas before,” Laura thought. “I guess it must be because I’m growing up.”

Pa & Caroline have their sweet moments throughout the series, with Pa saying “There’s nothing in Iowa too good for you, Caroline.”
And there’s a song about a good wife who didn’t turn out to be so good, so Pa didn’t sang the rest of the song.

When Ma says Reverend Stuart will ruin his health baching by himself (living as a bachelor) trying to live on his own cooking Pa said “He’s Scotch,” said Pa, as if that meant that he would be all right.’ Haha

“When March comes in like a lamb, it goes out like a lion.”

I love that Mr. Edwards helped Pa get in the claim office by starting a fight with the men who wanted to hold him back!
“Nothing is certain but death and taxes.”

It’s amazing they had so many people staying over they had to charge them for food, shelter and stabling their horses.

Them waking up with snow covering their beds and everything else because the sides weren’t on the building was insane!

“That’s what it takes to build up a country,” said Pa. “building over your head and under your feet, but building. We’d never get anything fixed to suit us if we waited for things to suit us before we started.”

Laura tried teaching two girls and was glad when they didn’t come one day! Mary thought she might be discouraged but Laura was f and she sing while she slept. Lol
She definitely took after her Pa, liking the west and the wild and wipe open, not wanting to be in town.

I love that Almanzo and his brother Royal were in here!! He’s a young man driving his wagon with his brother. Pa knew them already and they lived north of them. Laura admired their horses and wanted ones like that.
‘With all her heart Laura wished for such horses. She supposed she never could have them.’
So cute because we know she ends up marrying him and will probably end up with the horses!

Things aren’t clear to picture as with each book in the series, & it’s the kind of writing you have to keep reading over to take in.

They have to worry about people jumping their claim. There was a tree claim on every section, and settlers had to plant ten acres of trees on every tree claim. So Uncle Sam wanted trees all over the west, didn’t think of clear prairie land for farming, which would probably stop the wind and change the climate .

It was sweet that Pa let Ma pick out her tree to plant first, by the door,& he put his on the other side and the girls each picked a tree out to go along the side of the house.

I liked the magical fairy hole, with violets growing. It turned out to be a buffalo wallow; with the buffalo gone, grass and flowers grew over them. Pa called Laura’s fairies “big, ugly brutes, with horns on their heads and humps on their backs.”
Ma seemed at odds with Laura, always getting onto her,& saying she was too old to believe in fairies.

Charles sings a song about horseshoes, hanging them over the door for luck and Ma says it sounds heathenish!
Ma was especially annoying in this one, like she could be on the show.

‘Lonely and wild and eternal were land and water and sky and the air blowing.’

This was my least favorite so far. There weren’t enough funny, or heartwarming moments like there usually are. Not much happened the whole book & they didn’t even get their homestead built. Ma was annoying at times, but then again, she could be on the show too.
I found the events anticlimactic and mundane. Not much of a plot, actually no plot, just stories of mundane stuff, house work and building homes.
I love that Almanzo made an appearance! It's shaping up for the rest of the books. Hopefully he's in the next one.
I did find it odd that Laura didn't mourn Jack, besides right when he passed, and Pa told her not to cry, he's running in heaven, or something like that. Then he's never mentioned again. Odd.

There were so many big surprises right out of the gate, making this feel different from the previous books. So much has changed! Laura was older, Mary was blind, Jack passed, no more living on the prairie.

The Ingalls family at last gets to stake their claim out by DeSmet. One of my favorite scenes in this particular novel is when Laura catches a glimpse of Almanzo and his brother Royal out on the prairie. Looking forward to watching their story come together as I continue listening to the series.

Full review for #LittleHouseRAL: http://books-n-music.blogspot.com/201.... Wow. Things were gettin' crazy out in De Smet when Pa finally went to town to file his claim! And if not for his old friend, Mr. Edwards, he well might not have had a claim, nor his life! But the Ingalls are finally moved to their rightful lawful homestead, even if they are temporarily just living in a "thrown-together" very small house/shanty!Pa will prevail and they'll have a nice house, I'm sure!

Chapter one opens up with sweet, loyal Jack the dog dying!!

I remember not caring so much for this book when I was younger. Probably because of Laura’s “rebellion” and the fact that I was still young when I first read it. (10 maybe? Not even?) Also, the age jump between this book and the last one was hard to adjust to.

However, I grew up, and the story grew on me. ;)

One thing that will continue to amaze me in these stories is these women’s strength and resourcefulness. Less than ideal circumstances, and yet they face them head on, make do, and beautify what they can.

The whole railroad aspect was fun, and I had forgotten about the Ingalls running a “restaurant”; it had completely slipped my mind, so rediscovering that was a treat.

Also, the Boasts (their name always makes me chuckle) are lovely!

While the book is sad in the sense that Mary loses her eyesight, I also love how Laura stepped into the role of being her eyes, and the descriptions that flow from that!

This was a charming book to read on Christmas Day. Last summer I started rereading the Laura Ingalls Wilder series, and this fifth one was a delight.

"By the Shores of Silver Lake" covers the family's move to the Dakota territory at about 1879, when Pa gets a job working for the railroad. Laura loves being out on the open prairie, and she's fascinated when she gets a chance to watch the men preparing the ground for railroad tracks. Pa explains the process for how railroads are built, and how efficiently the crews work.

"I wouldn't wonder if you'll live to see a time, Laura, when pretty nearly everybody'll ride on railroads and there'll hardly be a covered wagon left."

This book was also interesting because Laura turns 13, and some other girls about her age are already getting married, which startles her.

"I'd like my own house and I like babies, and I wouldn't mind the work, but I don't want to be so responsible. I'd rather let Ma be responsible for a long time yet."

Like the other books in the series, there are some great stories about pioneering and setting up living quarters on the prairie, and how neighbors had to help each other, and the occasional run-in with wild animals. There was also a happy Christmas, and Pa picks out some land for their future homestead, which was near De Smet, South Dakota. It's a lovely story.

It was fortunate that I started rereading the books last year, since there is a new annotated autobiography out about Laura Ingalls Wilder ("Pioneer Girl"), and I want to finish the series before I read that. This is a wonderful children's collection, and I'm happy to see it's still in print and that kids today seem to respond to it positively.

Audiobook performed by the Cherry Jones

Wilder wrote this series of autobiographical novels in the early 1900s, and they are classics of children’s literature. This is the fifth book in the Little House series, wherein the Ingalls family heads to the Dakota Territory. They family has suffered serious illness, and Laura’s older sister, Mary, is now blind as a result of a bout of scarlet fever. Laura is growing up; she’s twelve years old now and taking on more responsibility. But there is still plenty of adventure ahead of her.

I never read this series as a child, and I’m so glad I decided to begin reading them a few years ago. Wilder gives the reader a good picture of the joys and sorrows of pioneer life – the harshness of weather, the bounty of a good crop and plenty of game to hunt, the dangers of the wilderness, the joy of company, and the comfort and security of family. Life is far from easy for the Ingalls family, but they have each other and they are willing to work hard. They are blessed, indeed.

Cherry Jones is simply marvelous performing the audio books. She brings Laura to life, and through her performance the listener experiences the excitement of a first train ride, the anxiety of waiting for Pa to return, the joy of Christmas morning with the family.

These books are just a joy to read.