This may be my favorite Little House book, because it's such a beautiful little romance. Laura goes off to teach school but must board with an awful family. As her first week passes, her heart sinks at the thought of spending the weekend in that cramped, cold cabin with the angry and abusive housewife. And then she hears sleigh bells. Almonzo Wilder has come to take her home for the weekend -- and he does, every week, for the entire term, even in the midst of record-breaking cold spells.

It's a sweet little romance, in which Laura doesn't know her own feelings but when asked, says yes. It's innocent and appealing. Read it.

These Happy Golden Years is book eight of the autobiographical series of novels, and we know from the first that Laura Ingalls will become Laura Ingalls Wilder so we are just waiting for that ring to appear, since we first met him a few books ago. This book spans the years from when Laura is not yet 16 and works in the Brewster School until the time she is married at 18.

“He isn’t that Wilder boy any more, Mary. He is Almanzo. . . I guess it’s because we just seem to belong together.”

This is, as with the others, a family car listen, over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we went. I have to say I was not up for a book that announces its theme and tone in the title, but hey, the tale of the fifteen-year old Laura's first teaching experience in a shanty, 12 miles from home, was interesting to this lifelong teacher, and moments of her courtship with Almanzo Wilder had us literally laughing aloud and cheering.

Highlights:

*When Almanzo picks her up in a snowstorm, it is BELOW 40 degrees below zero, and she almost collapses from hypothermia. When they make it home Papa says the ball at the base of the thermometer actually had frozen. Later she says she is happy being outside in the sunlight when it is only twenty degrees below zero!

*Those sleigh and buggy rides with Almanzo. Can one ever hear sleigh bells the same way again?

*Laura’s informing Almanzo that she won’t be able to swear an oath to always “obey” him. He immediately agrees, but asks her if she is a feminist like his sister. “Well, not that I want the vote, or anything, but I just don’t think I can swear in advance to something I may not be able to do.”

*He takes her for rides (and then she also takes the reins eventually) for a full year, doing nothing else with her, even after she has discouraged him from approaching her for romance. (He knows she is the one, and persists). The first time he puts his arm around her, she pulls the reins and forces him to take them with two hands; he understands this move, and does not touch her again for many months later. Saint Almanzo!

*When and only when she gets the ring does she allow him to kiss her—just once—before dropping her off at her door. Saint Almanzo! Another age, another time!

*The Ingalls seeing their child of 18 leave home with Almanzo—bittersweet.

A love story, and a sweet one, to (essentially) finish the series, yay!

I love the Little House series. Saying this book wasn't my favorite is like ranking the Harry Potter books. Even a four star here is more beloved than most other novels. That said, this book had a bit too much Mrs Brewster (sad and scary!) and too many buggy rides (redundant) for me to really relish it like I did the others. That said I think Laura does a masterful job conveying the joys and pangs of growing up and moving on from the nest. And I love what Almanzo had to say about not wanting a wife who just obeys him ;-)

I absolutely love this book. It came to mind last night so I did a quick re-read. Laura is the best.

Update 2021 - it’s just such a sweet read. I smile throughout. And I just found a beautiful mid century edition.

Another lovely continuation of Laura's life. I was so happy for her and Almanzo, even though I thought the courting stage was much more frigid back then, but it was a different world back then! I can't wait to see how they grow together in age and love.

Ok so how could I not put my favorite LHOTP book on my bookshelf? I can't. There just ain't better readin' than a little LHOTP. Especially with a little fiddle music in the background while wearing a bonnet.

I love this series - have read it so many times and I always get swept up in the story.

No matter how many times I re-read this book I never get tired of it, and I'm constantly finding new things in it! This has got to be the best book in the whole of the 'Little House' series! It's absolutely wonderful. Five stars just doesn't seem to be enough for it!

One of the most satisfying and heartfelt romances of all time. Quiet and simple and perfect.

I read this after visiting De Smet, and it was so lovely to be able to fix this unabashedly romantic YA novel firmly in its real-life location. On our last day in South Dakota we drove all around the lakes – Spirit Lake and Lakes Thompson and Henry – and out to the former tree claim where Laura and Almanzo’s first home was, and so in reading this book I was able to take a little nostalgia trip of my own, following the paths of their buggy rides.

I love Laura and Almanzo’s courtship (which is really what this book is about). He is so patient and so determined, and in some way, though he’s the older and more worldly of the two of them, he’s more shy. And Laura really takes her time figuring out whether or not they are right for each other (Almanzo seems pretty sure all along). Late in the book when Mary asks her, “Do you really want to leave home to marry that Wilder boy?” Laura protests, “He isn’t that Wilder boy any more, Mary. He is Almanzo… I guess it’s because we just seem to belong together.” She means that.

Other notes:

-- I love Laura’s joy when she comes home from the Brewster School for the first time - I love appreciating her loving, cheerful, practical family in a way that even she herself has never appreciated it before, and her own sober realization about how lucky she is.

-- Yeah, so, this book, along with Lloyd Alexander’s n  The High Kingn, Alan Garner’s n  The Weirdstone of Brisingamenn, and JRR Tolkien’s n  The Fellowship of the Ringn are the books that taught me – before I hit my teens - all about the human body’s reactions to cold and the dangers and symptoms of freezing to death.

-- OH! I forgot about Laura going to live with the McKees one summer to help them hold down their claim. They take the train to Manchester SD. It is seven miles to the west of De Smet. We went there, too, on our trip. The ENTIRE TOWN was destroyed by a tornado in 2003. There is literally nothing left but a mangled railway sign, a memorial, and “the fabled town pump” which miraculously survived. It is officially classified as a Ghost Town.

(Wikipedia entry about Manchester SD)
(Yeah, video footage of THAT TORNADO by seriously insane storm spotters. This thing is HALF A MILE WIDE and they are like 100 yards away from it.)

-- Anyone born since about 1920 has SERIOUSLY MISSED OUT ON THE PLEASURES OF SLEIGH RIDING. Damn it.

Best quotation in this book:

The wind was blowing, but not too hard, and everyone was so happy and gay for it was only twenty degrees below zero and the sun shone.

This book is just exactly what I needed. As the world has kind of spiraled into chaos, I’ve found myself unable to concentrate on anything, though I knew that sinking into a story would give my mind a much-needed reprieve from the news and the fear it brings with it. Fantasy world building was too different to feel at all believable for my current mood, and contemporary fiction didn’t provide enough of an escape. I finally decided that what I needed was something historical, something firmly lodged in reality but far removed from the modern world in which we dwell. I needed bright and wholesome and something that would remind me that, no matter how the times change, people change with them and eventually learn to conquer any obstacles in their path. I can think of no series that more perfectly encapsulates all of those needs than The Little House on the Prairie. Though I’ve read most of the series in the past, I had never read this particular book. And it was such a breath of fresh air.

I know that this series has, in recent years, been reclassified as problematic, mostly for the racism portrayed by certain central characters. Yes, that racism is present. But as that was legitimately how pioneers felt during the westward expansion, isn’t it better to include those views so as to discuss and refute them that it is to banish them from history? We can’t learn from our mistakes if we whitewash our past and pretend that we’ve always been enlightened. Racism aside, and ignoring the fact that the author often waxes poetic about her own selflessness in the third person as well as the fact that her “authorship” is greatly exaggerated as her daughter did a majority of the writing, this series is just delightful.

Modern readers tend to view this prairie past as “simpler times,” but most of us would not handle the multitude of hardships these settlers faced with anywhere near their resilience and grace. The times they lived in were much harder. But the difference in daily life and setting is a joy to experience through the eyes of Laura Ingalls. In this particular book, we see her has a young woman for the first time instead of a child. We witness her first teaching experience in the beginning of the novel and her marriage in its final pages. While there were some instances that had me rolling my eyes, like the Ingalls’ family purchase of an organ when they really couldn’t afford it, I thoroughly enjoyed my escape to a different time in history. It was a balm in a difficult time.

Strap in, folks. This might be a long one, since it's my favorite book in the series.

We begin our story once again in the cold winter of the Dakota Territories. Laura has received her teaching certificate and begins teaching school to keep Mary in college. She dreads teaching, she doesn't want to leave home, but she pulls herself up by her bootstraps and puts on a brave face. The school is 12 long, cold miles from home. She's staying with the school board president's family, run by his awful wife who hates it out West. It's a long two months in the freezing cold, and the only way she stays sane is because of the wonderful Almanzo Wilder. He drives out there, regardless of the weather, and brings her home to her family. Every. Single. Weekend. Through blizzards and awkward conversations. Almanzo must have really loved her, because she is ridiculous sometimes and tells him she won't ride with him after she is back home. What? Girl, you are crazy. But he's the best, and continues to make sure she gets home safely. I have a real thing for strapping young farm boys who are good with horses and very kind and brave. Almanzo is my jam.

And then she is home, and she conveniently forgets that she wasn't going to go around with him anymore. Apparently strapping young farm boys are her jam, too. Laura, no judgment. He's rad. And he apparently gets you, big time. Secret Christmas gifts, buggy rides, and appears to be a strong partner in crime. You get to drive the horses and race across the prairie together. You break wild horses and go to singing school together. And at the end, a sweet proposal and a kiss, leading to a quick marriage. Well, I say quick, but he courted her for three patient years, so nothing quick about that, folks. I mean, she was eighteen when they got hitched. And he builds her a kick-ass pantry so you know he loves her.

I'm 99% sure my husband is Almanzo Wilder reincarnated, and this book directly shaped the kind of man I am find attractive. 5 stars. Love this series!