Little House books

[mtemm]

there was a thread a little while ago about these books, and the change in the illustrations, but I can't find it now. anyway, inspired by the thread I bought the box set of the originally illustrated ones to put away for my daughter (now age 2) to have someday. ok, really they were for me. I've been re-reading them for the first time in a looooong time, and really enjoying them. anyone else re-read them as an adult? I see things very differently than when I read them as a child. I'm just stunned at how much they all went thru and dealt with.

after reading the long winter, I am really wondering about what the old indian said about the weather...that there was a hard winter every 7 years, and every 21 years there was a very hard winter. wonder if there is a way to look that up to see if it has held true over the years. anyone know how to go about looking this up? yes, I'm a total dork, but I'm facinated with it.

 

[autumnbaby9]

Yep!

I bought them about 3 months ago for my "DD" .

She listened for about 2 minutes and I had to finish them by myself.

I think I enjoyed them more as an adult than as a child.

 

[poohandwendy]

LOl, I did the same thing you did. I bought a boxed set on Ebay after reading that thread and just received them a few days ago. I am going to start the first one tonight. The Little House books are what really got me hooked on reading.

I am really curious as to how different it will to be to read them as an adult. Their lives were so simple and uncomplicated in some ways...it really wish we had a bit more of that today.

Interesting about the weather thing...wonder if it held true?

 

[mtemm]

the funny thing was I remember so much about them, except for one...the little town one. and I wonder if I ever read it...I think I must have missed that, although I read all the others over and over. I don't know if my library just didn't have it, or if I overlooked it, or if I only read it once for some reason. it was fun to read, all fresh and new...at least to me!

I think what surprised me most as an adult was the Little House on the Prarie one, when they first went to kansas and poof, just decided to build a house! lol. for some reason it just almost seemed like there was no rhyme or reason...lets go west, and then, hey, this looks like a nice place. its not near any place, but lets have at it. what a totally different way to live! I can't even imagine just how hard they all worked. and I keep remembering pbs's fronteir house and the other house series and how modern day people basically can't even come close to cutting it.

I'm so happy I bought the books. I love the illustrations, and even if my daughter has no interest in them someday, I always will. I did check out the new books, btw, and I just do not like the new illustrations. maybe its my past relationship with the books that makes me cling to the original ones, who knows, but I definitely prefer them!

 

[aunt kelly]

I read these books for the first time when I was an adult. I read the whole set to my son when he was about eight.

I'm not sure which one of us loved the books more. However, I think an adult perspective of these books is different from a child's perspective. Long Hard Winter was very hard to read as an adult, because I realized that the family was literally starving to death and Ma and Pa must have wondered whether the family would live until spring. As a parent, I cannot imagine watching my children go hungry year after year.

I hope your daughter enjoys the books as much as my son did!

 

[poohandwendy]

You know, after receiving mine I am not sure I read all of them either. I watched the show, of course, so I am not sure if my recollections of the later books are from that or not.

I am trying to get my 13 yo DD interested in reading them too. She likes to read, hopefully she enjoys them as much as I do. Since I am the faster reader, I will just let her have the first one after I finish it. I love the illustrations too, that is why I was so bummed to hear they were changing that part and I had to buy them. My DH thinks i am a total dork...at least now i can tell him I'm not the only one!

i think what I like so much about that era and the way LIW tells her story is the sense of community, family, the simple outlook (like picking a place to live)...the way they had positive attitudes no matter what happened. I know that is just the way she portrays it, but it is so admirable.

So many things are a lost art now...sewing, the primitive cooking, etc. I often wonder how many people now would survive if somehow we lost all of our modern conveniences.

Wouldn't she have been a fascinating person to sit and talk to for hours?

 

[mtrak17]

I must not have seen the first thread, but I was so happy to see this thread tonight!!

I had read most of the set when I was app. 10-11 and I just re-read the whole set a couple months ago (32 now). I was so fascinated once I started reading them again that I couldn't do anything else until I had finished. I completely agree that it is totally different to read the books as an adult. I remember when I was little the most interesting parts were when Laura and Mary were playing, or going to school, or getting into trouble (Laura, at least) and I remember being pretty bored reading the stuff about the farming and about Almanzo. As an adult, it was like reading the books for the first time, because I just fell in love with Almanzo and their relationship and couldn't comprehend all the hardships they endured. As someone else wrote, The Long Winter was especially brutal and I kept thinking nothing else could possibly go wrong!

The worst part of reading the books over was that it is SO disappointing that there are not more and no amount of hoping will make more appear After reading the last of the series (These Happy Golden Years???), I was so interested to see what other horrors Laura and Almanzo would have to live through (financial problems, fires, what else!!?? ). I know there is documented history of what happened to them post-books, but it's not the same and seeing it through LIW's eyes, is it??

Anyways, thanks for a great discussion!!

 

[daisyduck123]

I'm a huge Laura fan.

One of the best books I ever bought was Laura Ingalls Wilder Country by William Anderson. It is all about her life from childhood until death, and loaded with at least 100 photographs. One of the best ones is a photo of Laura, Mary, & Carrie, taken soon after Mary went blind. I think Laura was about 14.

It even has a photo of the school Mary & Laura went to when they lived in the BIG WOODS in Wisconsin.

It has photos of the entire family, their homes, their children (besides Laura, Carrie was the only one to have children, and they were her step-children).

Great book! I love it!

 

[momto2girls]

I just finished reading the entire series to my 6 year daughter a couple of months ago. I really, really enjoyed reading them again as an adult. It is such an inspiring story! And my daughter LOVED all of these books. In fact, she wants to read them all over again, but I'm trying to convince her that there are plenty of other classics worth reading.

 

[Crazy4Disney72]

I recently read the entire series to my DD 6 and she really enjoyed them. We usually only did one chapter a night so the series lasted many months. She wanted to start over again, but I told her to wait another year or so and then she can start reading them herself.

I am a huge LIW fan, loved the books and TV show as a child, and it was thrilling to share that with my DD. I agree, it's a much different perspective reading the books as an adult than it was as a child.

 

[Amy]

A little off-topic here - I've never read the books (they're on my list of books to read someday), but I watched the tv show when it was on. I'm now collecting the whole series on DVD - I got seasons 3 and 4 for Christmas.

We just started season 4, and there's absolutely no mention of Mr. Edwards and his family. What happened to them? At the end of season 3, the Edwards' and the Ingalls' moved back to Walnut Grove after trying to find gold. Then season 4 starts and poof! Merlin Olsen as Jonathan Garvey just appeared, but nobody said anything about Mr. Edwards. In one of the shows, Pa and Mary went to Chicago so Pa could attend a Granger convention and Mary could visit John (Mr. Edwards' adopted son) at college, only to find out that John is now in love with someone else. But no Mr. Edwards; John didn't even ask how Mr. Edwards, Grace, Carl and Alicia were. What happened to them?

 

[nephthys43]

A little off-topic here - I've never read the books (they're on my list of books to read someday), but I watched the tv show when it was on. I'm now collecting the whole series on DVD - I got seasons 3 and 4 for Christmas.

We just started season 4, and there's absolutely no mention of Mr. Edwards and his family. What happened to them? At the end of season 3, the Edwards' and the Ingalls' moved back to Walnut Grove after trying to find gold. Then season 4 starts and poof! Merlin Olsen as Jonathan Garvey just appeared, but nobody said anything about Mr. Edwards. In one of the shows, Pa and Mary went to Chicago so Pa could attend a Granger convention and Mary could visit John (Mr. Edwards' adopted son) at college, only to find out that John is now in love with someone else. But no Mr. Edwards; John didn't even ask how Mr. Edwards, Grace, Carl and Alicia were. What happened to them?

he comes back on and off throughout the rest of the seasons but moves away. in season 8 (i think - may be 9) one of his sons dies, he becomes an alcoholic, grace (played by a different actress) kicks him out and he returns to walnut grove.

 

[RangerPooh]

I\
The worst part of reading the books over was that it is SO disappointing that there are not more and no amount of hoping will make more appear After reading the last of the series (These Happy Golden Years???), I was so interested to see what other horrors Laura and Almanzo would have to live through (financial problems, fires, what else!!?? ). I know there is documented history of what happened to them post-books, but it's not the same and seeing it through LIW's eyes, is it??
QUOTE]

I believe that there are two books that were writen by either Laura or Rose Wilder (their daughter). I forget what they are called, but my mom read them to us after we finished the series.

Here's one and it's sting on Amazon
West From HOme: Letters from Home, Laura Ingallas Wilder http://www.amazon.com/West-Home-Let...f=sr_1_21/105-1859822-5772436?ie=UTF8&s=books

 

[mtemm]

the last of the series is The First Four Years. I remember being so frustrated for them...one failure after another.

I did some googling last night, not about the weather, but I did find several "what happened to them" bits, including pictures. including the picture of mary, laura, and carrie that a pp mentioned. I also discovered that pretty much all the major places she lived have a type of museum, often preserved house or recreations, including the little house in kansas (that is a recreation). even the little sod house at plum creek has been preserved by the current owners of the farm. I have this weird little desire to take a road trip and hit all of them. think I could talk dh into it? lol.

glad to see there are so many other fans out there, and others that read these again as an adult.

 

[momto2girls]

the last of the series is The First Four Years. I remember being so frustrated for them...one failure after another.

I did some googling last night, not about the weather, but I did find several "what happened to them" bits, including pictures. including the picture of mary, laura, and carrie that a pp mentioned. I also discovered that pretty much all the major places she lived have a type of museum, often preserved house or recreations, including the little house in kansas (that is a recreation). even the little sod house at plum creek has been preserved by the current owners of the farm. I have this weird little desire to take a road trip and hit all of them. think I could talk dh into it? lol.

glad to see there are so many other fans out there, and others that read these again as an adult.

Actually, from my understanding, The First Four Years was never meant to be part of the series. Laura did not write it and did not want it written. It was written by someone else based on journals that Laura had kept and I believe it was published after her death.

 

[nephthys43]

I also discovered that pretty much all the major places she lived have a type of museum, often preserved house or recreations, including the little house in kansas (that is a recreation). even the little sod house at plum creek has been preserved by the current owners of the farm. I have this weird little desire to take a road trip and hit all of them. think I could talk dh into it? lol.

glad to see there are so many other fans out there, and others that read these again as an adult.

i'm actually heading to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in mansfield this may. i'm going out to visit my uncle in st louis and he's going to drive me the 4 hours to go there.

 

[Amy]

he comes back on and off throughout the rest of the seasons but moves away. in season 8 (i think - may be 9) one of his sons dies, he becomes an alcoholic, grace (played by a different actress) kicks him out and he returns to walnut grove.

Thank you! We really enjoy Mr. Edwards; glad to know he'll be coming back at some point.

 

[mtemm]

Actually, from my understanding, The First Four Years was never meant to be part of the series. Laura did not write it and did not want it written. It was written by someone else based on journals that Laura had kept and I believe it was published after her death.

from what I read, she did intend it as a book and had just started the drafts of it. instead of fixing it, they published it as is, which is why it reads a bit different. hmmm...need to find where i read that. it was published after her death, that I do remember.

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

Because of the first Little House thread, I panicked and purchased the entire set in hardcover via Amazon. I purchased one on ebay because it could not be found anywhere. So FINALLY I have the entire set! I am so psyched.

 

[mtemm]

i'm actually heading to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in mansfield this may. i'm going out to visit my uncle in st louis and he's going to drive me the 4 hours to go there.

oh how fun! let me know how it goes. I can't believe that we never went there when I was little. I was born in st. louis and lived there until I was 8. we took road trips everywhere. well, almost everywhere. lol.

sigh. well, someday I'll get there. I hope you come back and post about what it was like. and pictures!