Review: Little House on the Prairie

Little House on the Prairie

Written by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Illustrated by Garth Williams

Publication date: 1994 (original publication 1935)
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 978-0064400022

Summary/Back cover:
America's original pioneer girl.

Meet Laura Ingalls, thw little girl who would grow up to write the Little House books.

Pa Ingalls decides to sell the little log house, and the family sets out for Indian country! They travel from Wisconsin to Kansas, and there, finally, Pa builds their little house on the prairie. Sometimes farmlife is difficult, even dangerous, but Laura and her family are kept busy and are happy with the promise of their new life on the prairie.

Little House on the Prairie is the second book in the Laura Years series.

Review:
As a child who grew up watching Little House on the Prairie on the television it is something of a surprise that it has taken well and truly into adulthood for me to actually pick up the original book.

This is the third book in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series. But I thought I would start with the namesake anyway.

It follows the Ingalls family from The Little House in the Big Woods as they head out to “Indian Country” and the prairie. We learn a little about the daily routines of covered wagon travel, building a log cabin and establishing a farm from nothing. It is a really easy read. The language is straightforward and the story is told in a plain manner. Bearing in mind the author is, essentially, describing aspects of her childhood you might be inclined to say that it is told in a slightly cool and distant way.

I enjoyed the story immensely, especially the chapter surrounding Christmas and Mr Edwards’ meeting with Santa Claus. That was simply charming. The chapters at the very end of the book dealing with the Indians and the war cries at night made my skin crawl. The thought of children out in a place that was essentially undefended, should the incumbent peoples decide to oust the interlopers in the quickest and severest manner possible, both raised questions of “What were they thinking! Such arrogance.” Tempered by regard for the bravery and pioneering spirit being shown. I’m still undecided on which view I take on that, other than a mixed one.

What was unexpected (after watching the TV series) was Ma’s racism regarding the Indians. Ma in the TV series seems to be calm, unruffled and generally a “good woman”. While she is some of those things in the books, she is also plainly of her time – white folk are civilised, red folk are not. Pa does not show up like this in this book. I wonder if he will in any of the others.

Despite the appearance of being 5 or 6 years old in this story, chronologically Laura would only have been 2 or 3.* So that could explain the detached feeling to the writing.

I enjoyed this enough to convince me to start at the beginning and work my way through the entire series. It should make interesting reading and give an insight into the pioneers of the American mid-west. This gets a solid four stars from me.

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* thanks Wikipedia for that.

Review written by Ms Oh Waily