A while ago I compiled a list of Bible-and-book quotes in the Little House TV series. I've now done essentially the same thing for the Little House novels. I've included the principal 8 Little House novels of Laura Ingalls Wilder, plus the posthumously published ninth novel, "The First Four Years", and her recently published memoir, … Continue reading Bible quotes in Little House books
Matchsticks
Everything we build is matchsticks. That’s how I felt recently, watching the residents of Walnut Grove blow up their beloved town with dynamite in the final episode of the “Little House” TV series. I originally that episode – the two hour movie billed as “The Last Farewell” – close to 40 years ago now, and … Continue reading Matchsticks
Pioneer Girl
This book’s annotations, and Wilder’s nonfiction voice, make this a first-rate work of history. The editor, Pamela Smith Hill, highlights the process of turning nonfiction into fiction. There is also analysis of the relationship between memories and writing. Wilder was something of a stickler for accuracy, especially in comparison with her daughter-and-editor, Rose Wilder Lane, … Continue reading Pioneer Girl
The First Four Years
In this novel I feel like I’m reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s pure voice for the first time. This book, as is well known, was never edited by her daughter Rose Wilder Lane and is very different from the other Little House books. The language is more plain, but the book feels more honest. Rose Wilder … Continue reading The First Four Years
These Happy Golden Years
The first half of this book, covering Laura’s first teaching assignment, is just about the best sustained writing I’ve found in the all the Little House books: it has unity, not just episodes. The second half loses this unity but overall it remains a great book, one of my favorites of the series. It seems … Continue reading These Happy Golden Years
By the Shores of Silver Lake
This book is filled with wonderful episodes and, in my opinion, the best writing this late in the Little House series. Mary going blind, and the death of Jack, are well-known episodes; I had read them last year without continuing in the book, and their simple power holds you on second reading. Continuing into the … Continue reading By the Shores of Silver Lake
On the Banks of Plum Creek
This one for me will always be The One With the Grasshoppers.* Said grasshoppers destroy the Ingalls’ wheat crop and smother their farm like a Biblical visitation. Worse, they stay. And lay millions of eggs. Then one day they start marching on the ground, robotically, toward the west, finally taking their bows without so much … Continue reading On the Banks of Plum Creek
Little House In the Big Woods
This is an utterly charming book, and I flew through it. As always, there was much detail about farm chores that I didn’t understand and which often left me bored. But some of that stuff in this book was mildly interesting (like cheesemaking); and none of it detracted from the pleasures of the book for … Continue reading Little House In the Big Woods
Bible and books in “Little House” TV series
A few weeks ago I posted about how we've been watching "Little House On the Prairie" on a nightly basis since around the time that quarantine began. I knew from watching the series as a child that the episodes often quoted the Bible, but I noticed this time that sometimes the Bible was quoted in … Continue reading Bible and books in “Little House” TV series
Everybody Fights
Kim and Penn Holderness have had us laughing all throughout quarantine, and God bless them. If you know their videos, you know that their first book just came out: "Everybody Fights: So Why Not Get Better At It?" I enjoyed it from start to finish, just gobbled it up. It starts off like a conventional … Continue reading Everybody Fights
