“Little House on the Prairie” by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Over the last year or so, on and off, my 10-year-old daughter and I have been reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House” children’s books at bedtime. Unless we’re running late with bedtime, as sometimes happens, we read two chapters each night. Laura’s descriptions of the day-to-day life and special events of her childhood have been followed eagerly by girls now for generations, and my own family is no different, as my sister-in-law and I both, independent of each other, and living in different provinces, started reading this children's series by Laura Ingalls Wilder to our own daughters about a year ago.

What is the appeal?

I think part of the answer to this question comes from the description of events most every child can relate to. At some point, every child lucky enough to have a live-in father has waited eagerly for his return home from work. Most mothers, even in our age of “labour-saving” devices, are still thrilled when a new range or oven makes its appearance. Although happening in an era very different from ours, the family events Laura tells us about in her stories often are events equally important to the children in our own families today.

The second half of the answer, I believe, lies in the interesting information picked up in the course of reading – information about the hardships of our pioneers in both the United States and Canada, facts about practical matters such as how to build a home when there is no lumber yard in town, and knowledge about how children used to amuse themselves when there was no TV, no computers, and no video games.

Samantha and I think the Laura Ingalls Wilder children's books are fun to read at any time, but they may also be of extra interest to children who are doing a school unit on pioneers or settling of the West. Laura’s adventures and descriptions will bring teachers’ explanations to life in a way and in language enjoyed by child (and adult) readers for decades.

Although “Little House on the Prairie” is the best-known of the “Little House” books, the series actually begins with " ," my personal favourite.

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