The First Four Years. [Paperback]

Laura Ingalls. Wilder (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 134 pages
• Publisher: Harper and Row; 1 edition (1971)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590404954
• ISBN-13: 978-0590404952
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.2 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,446,080 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in 1867 in the log cabin described in Little House in the Big Woods. As her classic Little House books tell us, she and her family traveled by covered wagon across the Midwest. She and her husband, Almanzo Wilder, made their own covered-wagon trip with their daughter, Rose, to Mansfield, Missouri. There Laura wrote her story in the Little House books, and lived until she was ninety years old. For millions of readers, however, she lives forever as the little pioneer girl in the beloved Little House books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps one to skip, June 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The First Four Years (Little House) (Paperback)

This is a must for Laura diehards only. At any rate, perhaps those reading the stories to children younger than 8 or so should have second thoughts.

The book picks up just before the ending of "These Happy Golden Years," and describes Laura Ingalls' first four years married to her husband of over 60 years, Almanzo Wilder, who she here calls "Manly."

This is the only one of the original series which was not published during her lifetime, and not edited (some say co-written or ghost written) by her daughter Rose Wilder Lane, herself a best-selling author, and it shows.

The writing was not as bad as I was led to believe without Rose's hand, as the book was based on a diary Laura kept during her first married years. A close friend of Rose's, Roger Lea McBride, received this diary and saw to its publication after Rose's death. The book seems more like a story outline than a diary as such, and perhaps Laura intended it as a base for Rose to embellish, but this never happened.

I read this book in order with the others in the series with my 8-year-old daughter (we took an entire school year of evenings to finish). My daughter was annoyed by the fact that the descriptions of the events before Laura and Almanzo's wedding are not exactly like those in the earlier book, and she quickly picked up on the fact the book doesn't have the richness of description so important to enjoyment of the earlier works, especially for young girls.

Laura and Almanzo had a rough time of it those first four years, but this book does not have the tone of hopefulness and progress that illuminated the earlier works--in fact, Laura reveals a great deal of anger and bitterness that exists, but is veiled, in the Rose-edited stories.

Despite the tribulations, there are good times, too, and the young couple's pleasure with their daughter Rose shines through. Nevertheless, the hardships of the prairie became so oppressive that, by the end of the 3rd year, I almost dreaded reading the 4th, so I jokingly tried to end the series by saying "and then a giant grasshopper ate the entire crop and the house! The end!" My daughter didn't buy that, though, and the actual end was, if anything, less cheerful.

I consoled my daughter by pointing out that Laura, Almanzo and Rose all lived long full lives afterward, and it wasn't all so hard. But if I had had the choice, I would've just skipped this one.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A change of pace from the 8 previous "Little house" books -, June 19, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The First Four Years (Little House) (Paperback)

For those of you used to the sentimental (but still lovely) "Little House" books, from "Little House in the Big Woods" to "These Happy, Golden Years," you will find "The First Four Years" to have quite a different feel and tone. Whereas Laura wrote the first 8 books with major input from her journalist daughter Rose Wilder Lane, Laura wrote "The First Three Years and a Year of Grace" as a personal journal of sorts, separate from her major works which were written and published from 1932-1946. "The First Four Years" is more somber, a little heavier, and weighed with Laura and Manley's disapppointment over personal tradgedies such as losing every crop for 4 years due to drought or hail, losing their home to a fire, going into heavy debt, contracting a major illness that left Manley with a stroke and a disability, and finally losing a child just a few days old. This book was published in the 1970s, after the death of both Laura and Rose. A must-read for "Little House" fans, with the understanding that The Wilders had a hard life that Laura did not want to address much in her books. - Lori M. Sampso

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Warning! Read This Before Buying!, July 13, 2004

By 

K. M. Chance "average consumer" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The First Four Years (Little House) (Paperback)

The Little House series is fantastic for readers of all ages. Laura Ingalls Wilder is a wonderful writer. It was her intention that the series end in the nice, neat little wrap-up she included in "These Happen Golden Years." However, this novel, "The First Four Years," was published after both Laura and her daughter Rose had died. And after reading the text, I can see why these pages were not really written to be published. Foremost, the book is too sad. None of the cheerful quips and passages that fill the other Little House books are included in this one. It is only a detailed account of all the incredible hardships the young couple faces. Second, the book contradicts parts of the other novels (in fact it starts with the same marriage proposal scene captured so sweetly in "Golden Years" only in this version, Laura initially says no because Almanzo is a farmer and she can't stand the idea of being a farmer's wife!) These are things to keep in mind before getting this book. Admittedly, it is interesting to know what happens next to Laura, but this book is not like the others. Be prepared.