I loved that we got so much sweet romance and courtship in this book. Laura’s cluelessness was entertaining (and at times a bit annoying). It was fun to see Laura growing up and going out on her own. This was probably my first or second favorite book of the series competing with The Long Winter.

Such a lovely happy book. I felt quite emotional finishing it. Especially knowing sorrows that lay ahead.

I loved that Laura appreciated her happy moments at this time in her life though, and knew that they really were happy golden years.

I had previously thought that the Harry Potter books were the first series where each book got more mature to match the growing maturity of the readers, but this series also does that. They may stay about the same length each, but the content matures. This book covers Laura teaching, finishing school, getting engaged and married. The beginning with Mrs Brewster made me incredibly sad - she’s portrayed as such a bitch and maybe she was, but I had to wonder that she might not have had postpartum depression. I can’t imagine being stuck in a tiny house in the winter with nothing but a crying baby for months on end. This is perhaps one of the most positive of the series - really, nothing bad happens to any of them, which is a bit of a surprise.

As I said in my notes for 1 & 4, yes, these have issues. That doesn’t mean they didn’t have a massive impact on me as a child. It’s possible to have conversations about books that you love for nostalgic reasons that maybe don’t hold up under a current lens. I think that’s the ideal rather than removing them from the conversation.

Sloane: my favorite part was the little house Almanzo built. It sounded pretty! I love the songs throughout all the books that Pa sings with the fiddle.

Me: gosh, watching Almanzo and Laura’s relationship blossom is so tender and satisfying! I love when Mary asks Laura if she is sure, and Laura says, “we just seem to go together.” Having such a non-passionate, honest and realistic relationship to strive for in early reader literature is so valuable. Almanzo really shows his love for Laura as he drives her to-and-from her first school, when he trusts her to drive Barnum, and in the great care he takes when building their home. What a tender journey to go through these books again!

Although I have read this book many times, I chose it to be the last book I read in 2018. I love all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books but this one is my choice because she really conveys how it felt to come into adulthood and the next phase and all the fear that accompanies change. Since I’m hoping 2019 will be a year for change, this seemed appropriate. ❤️

Another of my favorites out of the series! The best aspect, in my opinion, is the understated development of Laura and Almanzo's romance.

Secretly, I'm jealous of the simplicity of the times. Buggy rides, just getting married & setting up house without a big charade, the sunsets and the sights of the rolling hills...

I didn't think this book was as exciting as a child. Laura was older and growing up. I didn't understand it. But now I'm in the same time of life, it seems, as Laura is in this book and I enjoy her stories. Maybe my life has stories too.

A nice, solid ending (essentially...'The First Four Years' has a lot of mystery in its origins, and whether it's valid as a completion of the Little House series) to a lovely series. At this point, a lot of people's enthusiasm starts to wane as relentless westward migration gives way to sleigh rides in town and Literaries. It's a natural part of the story, but certainly not as exciting as amok cows or Indian war dances or amok horses. The Literaries, however, offer a lot of head-scratching moments, from town-wide spelling bees to school recitations to...gulp...minstrel shows.

And of course, Laura and Almanzo wed here. It's nice, quite emotional, and a kind, compassionate happy ending to eight books worth of hardship, hard winters, and hard candy for Christmas. Very glad I read these.

Holy cow. I'm reminded once again how teens the same age (16-18) act entitled and all-knowing these days. At 16 Laura left her own schooling and family to teach others twelve miles away. It wasn't easy but she did it for her family and gained much courage and understanding.

Reading this series through with my family, early on my 7 (now 8) year old daughter figured out the Laura & Almanzo storyline due to the Ingalls Wilder name on the cover. Since then she has eagerly anticipated each moment they share between the pages and I'm elated yo share in her first light romance storyline. Almanzo will never ask Laura to obey or fail to appreciate her hard work, family love, or expect her enjoyment of horses to dull.

I was gonna give this four stars until Laura wouldn't vow to obey, and I couldn't let that slide.

This book was the first of the Little House books that I read. The last shall be first. I liked it, and all the Little House books (my favorites are Little Town on the Prairie and The Long Winter). While I have to say that I enjoyed them as a child, that's nothing to what I thought of them when I reread them as an adult.

As a child, I loved the innocence of Laura's existence and her rebellious nature. Now, what comes through much more strongly is the constant danger that the Ingalls Family lived with. Living through a brutal South Dakota winter with no central heat, in a house made of flimsy boards? Um, no thank you.

I am not now, nor have I ever been, particularly wild about Laura's style of writing (or Rose's, if you will, but more about that later). However, what Laura conveys very well is the hard work that went into western settlement, the difficulties that were part and parcel of that effort, and the confident attitude that made it all possible.

Reading these books also reveals that human nature never changes. Laura, despite what we would now see as poverty, wanted always to look good and the books devote much attention to buying material, designing clothes and making them. And her feelings for Nellie Oleson? Well, don't we all want to be popular and resent people who lord their wealth over us?

She also has a great ability to evoke mind-numbing cold, as happens a few times in These Happy Golden Years and on just about ever page of The Long Winter.

A few years ago, while on vacation, I stayed overnight in DeSmet. For anyone who has an interest in the Little House books, this is a great experience. I came away feeling that I had gotten to know the Ingalls family in a way I wouldn't have otherwise.

Reading these books as a child, and knowing they were based on actual events, was a wonderful experience. Going to DeSmet as an adult helped put flesh on the bones of people whose lives jump off the pages of Laura's books.