Little house in the big woods (Little House in the Big Woods - Laura Ingalls Wilder)

Member Name: jo1l

Product:	Little House in the Big Woods - Laura Ingalls Wilder
Date:	11/09/00 (152 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great books

Disadvantages: none

I was first introduced to these books when I was about 8 years old, I have got fond memories not only of this book but of the others in the series, my mum has even saved the now dog eared and battered books for me - I cant wait to read them to my daughter when she's older.

This book introduces the reader to Laura, her older sister Mary, her Ma and Pa and her baby sister Carrie. The book is set in about 1870's and Laura was about 5 ( I think). At this time the family lived in a log cabin in the big woods of Wisconsin. It goes onto tell you what life was like in the cabin and a few of the "family" events, the later books are better as they do tend to tell a story.

The books are not great peice of classic literature, but they are wonderfully written and chronical Laura's life from a small child, to a newly wed. Laura's family were "pioneers" each book tell's you of a new home in a new part of the American mid west you get the distinct impression that her father would have liked to go further ie to Oregon, the family eventually settled in a small town in the Dakota's, the final books in the series, the Long winter, Little Town on the Prairie and Golden Years tell of life in the this small town, they are a little bit "too cosy" but as they are meant for children you can understand why she wrote them like she did. My favourite has got to be the Long Winter which basically tells the tale of a very harsh winter and the family's (and the towns) struggle for survival, I re read it a few years ago and was amazed how the family actually survived, in a town which was cut of from the outside world for nearly 7 months, with out fuel and food supplies.

If you've ever seen little house on the praire then you'll get a gist of what the books are like - but they have been butchered by Hollywood! This series of books are not only a story but also give us a peice of social history, Laura was bo
rn circa 1865 and actually died in the 1950's, I read these books over and over again as a child. I have fond memories of all these books

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