2023 thoughts:
I didn’t meet Laura Ingles until I was grown, but I’m fascinated by the life she led. Especially knowing that so many others experienced the same. I’ve never found her the most compelling character, even though she is a real person. What draws me to these books is the depth of description. Pioneer life is endlessly interesting to me; I love reading about the ins and outs of how they lived, the details of their everyday life. There is something soothing and nostalgic and wonderfully cozy about such banal descriptions of the minutia that governed their days. There’s not much character development to speak of, as the stories are so largely built around these more technical details of their experiences. I know there are some problematic viewpoints of Native Americans in later books in the series, but this one is largely free of that, which is why it’s one of my favorites in the series. These are books I like to return to when modern life feels overwhelming, and I always enjoy my time with them.

Original review:

In the past few months, I’ve developed a bit of an obsession with the television show Little House on the Prairie. It’s something I’ve seen bits and pieces of throughout my life, as there were always reruns playing on some channel. But I’ve never sat down and watched it from the beginning as I’m doing now, and I’ve really been enjoying it. I just had a desperate desire for something pure and wholesome that almost always has a happy ending, and that’s what I’ve found in this series. Since I love the television series and said series is based on a famous series of books, I obviously need to read them, right?

This first book was absolutely adorable. Laura is five years old in this book, and still living in the Big Woods, before her family moves away. The prose is incredibly simply, and seems tailor made for reading aloud to children. There isn’t much plot, but the descriptions are vivid and very engaging, which is exactly what young children will enjoy about the book.

I’m not a young child, so did I enjoy this book? Absolutely. I felt like I was right there with Laura, making butter and playing in an attic full of food stored for winter and listening to wolves howl outside of my window. Wilder did a great job of presenting the story through the eyes of a child, and reading it made me feel like a child again. I can’t wait to continue on with the series!

This is the first book in the Little House Series, and somewhat overlooked due to the popularity of the second book, Little House on the Prairie. I've read both and liked both; this volume being a wonderful introduction to Laura and the Ingalls familly. I didn't read this series as a child, but as an adult I've come to appreciate it's beauty, and it's importance in the canon of American Children's Literature. Some may say this is too simple for adults to appreciate, and starting out it seems that way, but the more you read the more you realize that Ingall's style is perfect for this type of story. I'm glad I started the series and I look forward to reading more.

Revised January 2018.

5 stars.

(Listened on Audiobook)

This will be a simple review for a sweet, simple book. The Little House in the Big Woods was utterly charming. Truly it was just short, sweet, simple, charmingness from beginning to end. I loved seeing little Laura's perspective on life back then, and all the stories Pa told, and learning the details about how they made everything from scratch. I don't think I ever had reason to cry, but a certainly did smile and laugh. (That story about the pig on the sled, and that time Ma slapped the bear...XD)

Literally my only nitpick is, that time that young Pa was chased by a hooting owl and then Grampa, when chastising him about getting scared, said it was a screech owl, screech owls do not say "who". They say screeeeeeeeech. Trust me, there's a pair of screech owls that live out here. They're cute little things and I hear them call to each other and they only go screech and are very noisy about it. If the owl that scared Pa said who in was probably some other kind of owl that lives out there...maybe a barred owl or great horned owl because both of those truly do say HOOT.

That minor thing aside, the story was just pure enjoyment and I'm probably going to read the entire series now. :)

Content Advisory: Very little to say here. There is violence in that there is talk of shooting and killing animals as one had to do to feed one's family back then, but the killing is never described. There is also one song Pa sings that uses the term "darkies" once.

I was obsessed with the Litte House books and the TV show when I was a child. I think I began reading and re-reading the books in second grade. This time around I listened to it on audio, and it was my first time "reading" the book as an adult. I have to admit, I think this book may have played a big part in my choice to be a vegetarian at a young age! It's hard to imagine my 8-year-old self making sense out of the hunting, etc. The farm life in the woods is not for me! That said, the book will always hold a special place in my reading heart, and I hope to re-read and/or listen to all of the books in the series again.

Read this book to my 3 yo son. He seemed to enjoy it. It good good descriptions and seemed to have good values that are things I would want to teach him too. Last time I read it was when I was in school .

I was an avid reader as a child and grew up watching Little House on the Prairie, but I never read this series. I just finished listening to the first audiobook and consider me addicted. The adventures of Laura and Mary and Baby Carrie and Pa and Ma in their snug and cozy house in the woods - ah bliss! Make me wish I was born in a different, simpler time.

Reading this to my daughter has helped me rediscover the joy of the Little House series all over again. Probably the best gift this little book has to offer is that of perspective. How blessed but complicated our lives seem now. How very different and yet the same. I loved sharing a slice of history with my child who has no concept of life before dvr's, minivans, and microwaves. That a child could be happy with a corncob doll was a unique thought. This series should be on the reading list for every mother.

What a wonderful blast from my past to pick up this first book in the series written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. My favorite TV show when I was little was Little House on the Prairie. I wanted to be Laura Ingalls! I lived vicariously through her as I watched her life portrayed on my TV and just thought how awesome it would have been to live on the prairie with the Ingalls family.

This is written perfectly for a pre-teen, tween age about her life growing up in the pioneer times in Wisconsin. This is such a beautiful story of a loving family who always works and plays together. We see a year in the life of the Ingalls’ family and get to look in on their daily lives. Ma and Pa Ingalls and their 3 daughters, Mary, Laura and Carrie live in a log cabin in the middle of the Big Woods. This was a time and a lifestyle so different from today. Food must be grown and meat must be hunted. Clothes were made and everything was useful. Pa playing his fiddle before they went to bed and the girls begging him to tell them stories is so reminiscent of a simpler time and way of life. I particularly enjoyed reading the scene about Mary and Laura’s dolls:

Mary was bigger than Laura, and she had a rag doll named Nettie. Laura had only a corncob wrapped in a handkerchief, but it was a good doll. It was named Susan. It wasn't Susan's fault that she was only a corncob. Sometimes Mary let Laura hold Nettie, but she did it only when Susan couldn't see.

These are books that I look forward to reading with grandchildren some day. I only remember reading Farmer Boy to my boys when they were little. I wish I had read them all to them. What wonderful conversations we could have had about pioneer living. I own all of these books and will look forward to the day (when I have grandchildren) when I can share some of my favorite books with a new generation!

This book is sure to make you want to churn butter, and knit mittens, and harvest sap to make maple syrup. And once you’ve done all that, you’ll crave family stories and fiddle tunes, enjoyed around a toasty fire.

Yessir, this book amounts to 85% homesteading work, 15% family bonding exercises.

As a direct consequence of reading this book, I found myself inspired to finish all the mending projects I’ve been putting off, to make an overnight bone broth from Thanksgiving leavings, and to take a six mile hike along the Blue River in MO. I’ve also logged less screen-time and fostered more intentional connections with the people I love.

Isn’t that strange? A book that magically transforms chores and physical exertion and human connection into the most sparkly, fulfilling uses of one’s time. It's a Christmas miracle!!

As glossed over as Laura Ingalls Wilder’s youthful recollections may be, the sheer, darn-tootin’ wholesomeness of it all is sure to have a positive effect on all who partake.

Book/Song Pairing: Money Musk (Pa's Fiddle Band)

É de uma ternura imensa ler histórias que nos fazem recordar a nossa infância :D

How is it possible that I have never read these books growing up? When I came across the series at a used bookstore for $1 each, I just had to snag them all. I love the vivid portrayal of simple family life, and the descriptions of -40 degree winter makes me snuggle down that much more! Looking forward to the rest of the series!

I think I almost hated this book. I had been expecting something like Anne of Green Gables or Larkrise to Candleford.

1. The animal cruelty, I know this is something that I feel more strongly about than others but there were so many anecdotes about killing them, even the dog that saved them from the panther gets whipped (if they'd had a gun they'd have shot it).

2. The oppressive religious teaching, this just came across as over strict to enforce inactivity on children that were too young to read the bible and so had nothing to occupy their minds other then 'look at pictures and hold their rag dolls nicely' rather than be allowed to play with them. The father then relates a time when he was a child and went sledging on a Sunday and was whipped for it. So it seems like some bizarre circle of abuse where he is inflicting the same thing on his own children. I know it was a more Puritan era and I would have made more of an effort to overlook it if I hadn't disliked so many other things about the book.

3. The Father whips his daughter and when his nephew after being naughty is severely stung by bees says 'It served the little liar right'. Where is the kindness or affection? When Laura finds pebbles and fills the pocket of her dress with them causing it to rip her mother tells her 'another time don't be so greedy'.

I enjoyed all the little domestic details and I can understand a hard life in difficult conditions but this family is awful and unkind to each other.