Oh man, I loved re-reading this so so much. It was just magic.

I'd been in the mood to read about Laura and the pioneer life so when I found a few books in the series at an estate sale for $.25, I picked them up and went right for this first one. Not quite as good at this stage of my life as I remembered them from when I was a kid, but still a great, classic read. Written the year my mother was born, I could relate to parts of the story through her, and imagined a little more what life might have been like for my grandparents. If you're feeling nostalgic, if you think your life is hard or boring, or if you wonder why children and teens used to be more respectful, dig into this series.

Nov 2017: Kai enjoyed it! Eve said she did too, but she didn’t listen much. We listened on Audible.

Oct 2016: I loved revisiting this book and am excited to get through the rest of the series. I will wait a year or two to read with the kids because I really want them to appreciate it. This really was a beautiful look into a different world. Her language was simple, but beautiful and so well crafted. There was simple humor and language which would appeal to kids. But it also immersed me into a world so different from my own. I almost wish I lived "back in the day". So much hard work, but how amazing to make everything with your hands. And how amazing to have such a close family and great values. Great standard and lessons for modern day families!

5 Stars

This is the book, the place where my love affair with reading began. I loved this story so much, it was as though I were drunk with it. I remember the rush of joy I felt when my teacher told me there was a whole series to read. I've felt that same magic, joyous feeling again and again over the years and nothing makes me happier than to see that same joy in other book lovers.

I found this book among my aunts' collections in my grandpa's house when i was living there for three-months back in 1987. Once I read it, I never stop to read over and over again.

Well, the life of the Ingalls is wonderful indeed. But what attracts me more is the fact that this book always makes me hungry all the time. You don't believe me, do you? Well, don't take my words for it, just try yourself...especially when you're reading through the "pouring hot maple syrup in the snow", "roasting the pigtails", and "smoking the sliced venison using hickory woods"...even the salted fishes for winter sound very tasty there...ouch!

Little House in the Big Woods is what Walden wishes it was, or could have been if Thoreau wasn't such a dick. Laura and her family aren't misanthropic creeps - and they have real skills, unlike vacationing Thoreau. But the book is about self-reliance, getting back to the basics, and living in harmony with nature. It shares a philosophy with Walden - along with two other sortof less-great things.

The first is a hopeless lack of plot, and that frustrated me when I first read it. And I do mean first read: this was the first chapter book I ever read all by myself. I battled through the entire series, because my mother told me I'd be a good reader when I was done, and I suppose it worked (I can read!) but honestly I should have just stuck to comic books; the meandering pace here wasn't a great match for little me. (Some of the Little House books have more plot than others.)

The second thing Little House shares with Walden is that it's bullshit. Thoreau went home to his mommy when he wanted cookies, and Laura's real life family were subsistence farmers always one bad season away from starving to death. Wilder leaves out her real brother's death in infancy to focus on singing by the fire. Both books hide the hardships of the lives they promote.

Wilder's book was published in 1932, during the Depression, and it was a collaboration between Wilder and her daughter Rose Wilder Lane, who was a successful novelist and also a rabid libertarian who advocated the assassination of New Dealing FDR and threatened to do it herself. This is the story Lane and Wilder want to sell you: hardy stock living by their own hard work without government interference. In reality, the Wilders lived harsh and desperate lives. Young, just-married Laura's first farm failed, and she lost it. It was only these books that finally pulled her out of a life of poverty - these books, which advocated exactly the grueling life they rescued her from.

That said, this is still a great source of information about such topics as:
- Making maple sugar
- Square dancing
- How much Laura's sister sucks
- Why children should be seen and not heard - remember when that was a thing? Ha!
- Old-timey songs, and there's a song about an "old darkey" who dies that you will need to watch out for if you're reading this to your child. It's in chapter 5. That's the only truly oh-shit content.
- Weaving straw hats
- Old-time candy - if there is a plot, it's that Laura Ingalls Wilder has a sweet tooth; this book is basically about candy
- Leaving babies in a pile on a bed while everyone does square dancing
- Extremely specific gender roles

It's pleasant enough to read, if a little boring. Just keep in mind, when Laura says,

"This is now."

She was glad that the cosy house, and Pa and Ma and the firelight and the music, were now. They could not be forgotten, she thought, because now is now. It can never be a long time ago.

It can never be now, either; it never existed at all.

But Laura lay awake a little while, listening to Pa’s fiddle softly playing and to the lonely sound of the wind in the Big Woods. She looked at Pa sitting on the bench by the hearth, the firelight gleaming on his brown hair and beard and glistening on the honey-brown fiddle. She looked at Ma, gently rocking and knitting.

She thought to herself, “This is now.”

She was glad that the cosy house, and Pa and Ma and the firelight and the music, were now. They could not be forgotten, she thought, because now is now. It can never be a long time ago.”


Simply the best passsage of American prose. Never once read it without tears. This morning my student said, "Miss Cindy, are you crying?" I was supposed to finish the book on Tuesday but it was a rough day for me because of my dad and so I knew better than to read the last chapter on that day.

A prominent book of my childhood. Loved the books; thrilled when it became a television show. Learned much about this history of our country from this series. Also about sharing a compelling story.

I wish I had read this when I was younger, because I probably would have enjoyed it more. In third grade, we were all told to read these books, but Harry Potter had just come out. Obviously, dragons and magic were more interesting than life in the Midwest, much to my teacher and my parents dismay. But back to Laura Ingalls...

This book is perfect for teaching any child what life was like in the late 1800's, living in the woods trying to survive. Now, it seems utterly preposterous to live this way, but I think children would benefit from this. Rules and chores were all apart of the daily routine, and the most simplest of things were entertaining to young children. They didn't have TV or video games, they went outside and played with whatever they could find...even a pig's bladder.

My main problem with this story is there is no beginning, middle or end. There is no "plot" really, and you really could have read any chapter at any time in any order. I know it's a children's book, but I read plenty of children's books that had a plot. Even Amelia Bedelia had a plot. Life in the big woods is great, but I needed something a bit more to the story.

I truly expected to fly through this one, but it dragged on a bit too much for me. I think its charm didn't work on me like it did for every other little girl in my third grade class.

A walk down memory lane. Although I have a whole bunch of new books to read, I felt like grabbing a childhood favorite from my stacks tonight. The first book in the "Little House" series introduces readers to Laura Ingalls, her Ma &Pa, and sisters, Mary and Carrie living in their log home in the "big woods" of Wisconsin.

The thirteen chapters in this book serve as vignettes of what life was like for settler families, the roles and responsibilities of each family member, the customs and teachings that had such an impact on a little girl and shape her to be a grown woman. I always felt a connection to Laura Ingalls right down to her brown hair. Intertwined with these chapters are stories of several family members misadventures that provide chuckles and lessons from beginning to end.

It would be terrible for me to overlook the wonderful illustrations from Garth Williams that accompany the author's text. I dare say that without them as child of 9 (the age of my "discovery "), the story might not have had as much impact.

I would definitely recommend to the young and young at heart.

We read this for my son’s first grade literature.
It was somewhat enjoyable for him, but he didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought he would.
It was interesting getting a peak into past cultures and ways of living though!

I re-read this childhood favorite for the first time in many years, aloud to my sons (6 & 3.5 years old). It was really fun and I can see why I loved this as much as I did, although there were a few parts I skipped over for their benefit that have not aged well. This is autobiographical with the author recounting what life was like as a young girl growing up in the wilds of America before electricity.

The book is peppered with entertaining stories, as well as detailed information on how they used to do everything from making butter to smoking meat to making straw hats. I remember finding that fascinating as a child and wanting to try things like making maple candy in the snow. It offers a window into a very different life, fraught with danger and hardship, but also filled with love.

A few things to note- there were a couple dated references to Native Americans that I skipped over while reading to the kids, and a somewhat racist song that Pa plays on his fiddle. It also offered the opportunity to have bigger conversations about things like:

- Spanking and how our family manages consequences differently
- Where meat comes from and a more ethical approach to hunting or using animals as a source of food
- What guns are and are not appropriate for- i.e. the difference between a rifle and a handgun and why we choose not to have them at all
- Beauty standards and why the idea that blonde hair and blue eyes are better than brown hair or skin is problematic.
- How religious practice has changed, especially in terms of offering programming for children

For those reasons, I actually think this is a great one to read aloud or alongside children so you can have those conversations rather than letting them draw their own conclusions. Obviously different families are going to approach these things differently, but do be aware a lot of this is in the book.