Customer Reviews

Little House the Laura Years Boxed Set: The Early Years Collection

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These books are delightful and stand the test of time. I am 36 years old, and started reading these books when I was 9. They paint a realistic picture of a midwestern family's everyday life. The stories are compelling and heart warming. I have just started reading them to my 4 year old daughter, and look forward to story time every night. They are excellent for both child and adult.

This one will be short and sweet. I just completed reading all five of the boxed set. I feel I knew the Ingalls family as I shared their lives, dangers, joys, and challenges. But, why, oh why, did I wait over fifty years to discover these wonderful stories. Laura waited until she was 65 years old to start writing them, so I think it safe to say that 65(my age) is not too late for me to read them.

To say this is about a pioneer family moving west, or about a little girl who lived in the big woods, on the prairie, near a creek, on the shores of a lake, and in various structures including a sod house dug into the side of a hill - misses the point. These stories are about adventures and goodness and have successfully warmth the hearts of generations of all ages since they were written.

I recommend anyone of any age read Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House Series. The best part of all is that the stories are based on her family and her life and capture the time and a spirit of those strong and determined folks who moved west in the 19th Century.

I devoured these books when I was in 2nd grade. My mom bought me the complete set in 3rd grade. I think that these books helped me to become very interested in museums and history, which I still am to this day. The only gripe I have about this set is that it does not include "Farmer Boy" and "These Happy Golden Years." They are very important books to be read along with this series. For the curious, "The First Four Years" lets the reader know what happened to Laura when she married Almonzo. Also, there is a diary of Laura's journey to Missouri with her family, "On The Way Home." Please do not let your children grow up without reading these books!

My mother introduced me to this series in the '60's. She read them in the '40's. My daughter delighted in them in the '80's. These books stand the test of time for education, character education, a glimpse of life in the late 19th century, descriptive passages and sheer entertainment.

These eight books were written when Laura Ingalls Wilder was in her late 60s. They are reminiscences of her early years when living on the western frontier of America in the post-Civil War era. While a smell can stimulate memory, many pages are written about the cooking and foods that they had. Laura also describes the intricacies of female dress of that time. Hoop skirts were probably killed off by the bicycle craze of the late 1880s, they even hindered getting into a buggy. The outlook also changes as she ages from a child to teenager to woman.

The "Little House ... Big Woods / Prairie" reflect her life as a child and how she remembers it. Since she was very young in Wisconsin, her memory must have been recovered from the stories of Ma and Pa and her older sister Mary. Could later events have affected her memories? "Farmer Boy" is about the youth of Almanzo Wilder, her future husband, and his life in the far north of New York state. These books are child-oriented.

"Plum Creek / Silver Lake" are about her later years, where she is aware of things like economic conditions that wouldn't be noticed by a child. The "Long Winter", about the terrible winter of 1880/1881, is most oriented to an adult in its description of life on the breaking edge of settlement. The story about the railroad camp won't have much meaning to children who have never experienced such hardships. It is a warning against the assumptions of the corporate railroad. If they build a railroad, the trains may not come on time.

"Little Town / Golden Years" are about her schooling, her school teaching, and her drives in the country with Almanzo, her future husband. I hope they had the happy married life that they deserved.

The books tell what is was like in the late 19th century. If you wondered about the roof on a sod house you will find a description here. Laura tells about digging a well, but the conventions of her time prevent any description on the location of their privy. The politics and events of that time are rarely mentioned, but children and teenagers don't care even today. Then it was work from sun up to sun down, except for Sunday. The Ingalls seem more religious than some others.

There is an economic side to these stories. In the first books the Ingalls live as subsistence farmers, growing or building most of what they consume. Pa hunts game for meat. In the middle of the stories Pa can't hunt, he must buy meat from the wages he earns in town. Laura works so her money can help send Mary to college. By the end the settlers are all raising cash crops to sell. They still have gardens to raise household food, and sew clothes from the cloth they buy. No more homespun. Labor saving devices are bought, like a breaking plow. Mechanized reapers and thrashers are now hired as needed. The forces of nature can still wipe out months and years of work in a few minutes. Hail and tornadoes threaten the growing crops. But the Ingalls strive, endure, and succeed, setting a good example for future countless generations.

I first read the " Little House " books when I was 10 years old. I was enthralled by them at that time, as I am now, at 36 years of age. These books take you back to a time when simple things brought great joy, and family was everything. They remember a time long gone, when integrity and honor were the norm, not the exception. I still love to read these books, and when my two year old daughter is old enough, we'll read them together, and think about the message they contain.

I remember devouring these books as a young girl, I'm 35 now and have begun reading the books with my 5 year old daughter. The first in the series is written so that she can read a great deal herself. Laura wrote such a wonderful recount of her life that you can really imagine, even if you are five, how much simpler life was . . . or complicated depending on how you look at it. We've had several discussions about the husstle and busstle of our life, brought on by the togetherness and importance of family that these books demonstrate.

I read these books when I was in the fifth grade. I thought they were a good read because of what the family went through. Reading about Laura I. Wilder's life in the west and the constant moving from one area to another due to crop failure, weather conditions, and beginning anew. Each story details how the family survives, Laura's childhood, and her relationship to her family. I even saw the Little House on the Prairie series with Melissa Gilbert and Michael Landon. I didn't care if anyone thought my choice of reading subject. It was a good series and the books were just as good to read as well. It's good to read about someone and what they had to go through before there was even technology. Parents should place more emphasis on reading materials like this so that children understand and appreciate the value of family and respect of elders.

If you like excitement, adventure,thrills and survival of the smartest,you should read this book! The book is about the Ingalls family. They have to move to town because of a long blizzard.It is the end of Janurary. They only have a cup of wheat,and a few potatoes and the train that is suppose to bring them supplies can't get through the storm. The wood is running low and Mr.Ingalls needs hay for his livestock. Will they make it through alive?

Fifty years ago I first started reading the "Little House" books as a second grader. Twenty five years ago my daughter loved them just as much and now my son's daughter loves them, too. The Ingalls family's humor, resourcefulness and integrity are still examples of what is best in the American character. Through Mrs. Wilder's extraordinary gifts of strong simple language, I remember many happy hours "seeing" the land and "knowing" the characters. Truly, the entire series is timeless and beloved