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Title:
Little House in the Big Woods
Series: Little
House #1
Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder
Rating:
4 of 5 Stars
Genre: MG Historical Fiction
Pages:
87
Words: 33K
Publish: 1932
What
a delightful gem of a book! While I’m stating this is middle grade
level, it is simple enough that it could easily be read by elementary
school age kids. We get a year in the life of the Ingalls family from
the viewpoint of Laura, who is 4 at the beginning of the book and 5
by the time the story wraps up. It is a very positive outlook to
things, just like you’d expect from the memories of someone that
young. They wouldn’t understand some of the bad and would just
accept things as they are, because they don’t know any different.
My mom read these to me growing up before I could read on my own and then I read them on my own at some point. Might have even read them a couple of times. But I never did read them as an adult and since I needed some ya/childrens books to keep me from being a total old grump, I decided on these. This book delighted me and I feel like I’ve made a great choice to go through the Little House series and I am looking forward to reading more. That makes a book a success in my eyes.
★★★★☆
From Grokipedia
The narrative of Little House in the Big Woods follows the Ingalls family's experiences through the seasons in their log cabin in the Wisconsin wilderness. In the fall and early winter, Pa hunts deer and other game to stock the larder, and with Uncle Henry's help butchers their fattened pig, preserving the meat as roasts, sausages, headcheese, lard, and other provisions while hanging venison and storing vegetables outside to freeze. During the long winter evenings, Pa plays his fiddle for family singing and tells vivid stories of past encounters with bears and panthers, including Grandpa's sled ride chased by a panther and Pa's own narrow escapes, which both delight and unsettle young Laura. Pa also molds bullets by melting lead over the fire and pouring it into a bullet mold to prepare ammunition for his rifle. Laura frequently feels afraid of the wild animals surrounding the cabin, such as wolves howling close by at night, the time Ma mistook a bear for the cow Sukey and slapped it before fleeing with Laura back to safety, or imagining panthers lurking in the shadows, yet she feels protected and secure inside the sturdy little house with her family nearby. Christmas brings a joyful gathering when Uncle Peter, Aunt Eliza, and their children visit, filling the cabin with relatives, homemade gifts including a new rag doll named Charlotte for Laura, mittens, candy, festive food, and storytelling around the fire. As late winter transitions to spring with a "sugar snow," the family travels to Grandpa's for sugaring-off, collecting maple sap from the trees, boiling it into syrup and sugar, and celebrating with neighbors at a lively dance featuring music and food. In spring, preparations lead to the family's first trip to town, where Laura and Mary marvel at the store and village sights. Summer brings visits to and from neighbors, along with garden tending and other warm-weather activities. In fall, harvest time involves relatives helping Pa and Ma with field work and grain processing, while the family resumes preparations for the coming winter.
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