Customer Reviews

Little House on Rocky Ridge (Rose Years)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I remember being about 8 years old when "The Rose Years" series of books originally debuted with "Little House on Rocky Ridge," an easily pleasing story for readers who enjoyed Laura Ingalls Wilder's original books. Now, with the entire "Little House" collection (including Laura's stories and the tales written about her mother Caroline, grandmother Charlotte, and great-grandmother Martha) getting a little makeover with these brand-new editions, there are a couple of things to keep in mind before buying.

If you remember when this book first came out in 1993, you may recall that it contained 368 pages. This condensed version--complete with the photographic cover of an adorable little rosy-cheeked child--is comprised of only 176 pages.

I was stunned when I discovered that the new editions of these books (except for the original 9 from Laura's collection) will all be made up of abridged text. The updated covers are one thing. Okay, they wanted to maintain the stories' "contemporary relevance" with these flashy new covers, also eliminating the Garth Williams illustrations that helped make the series so successful in the first place. This is at least understandable, but passing these stories off in condensed versions is both inappropriate and unacceptable for books that are so timeless and important for all generations.

I am not usually the type to get upset about things like this, but because I remember reading these Rose stories as a child, I feel compelled to at least let consumers here know exactly what they are purchasing. I just happened to get a close-up look of the back cover on the Internet, and if I hadn't seen the tiny word "abridged" on the bottom, then I would have been very quick to purchase this. The publishers' motives for doing this are not quite clear, but come on--omitting nearly 200 PAGES OF TEXT is completely ridiculous, and I can't honestly believe that most people would buy this if they were aware of that fact. They must have cut out entire chapters to accommodate this drastic size change, perhaps in an effort to make it easier for young children to read. Well, let me just say that I have read my share of children's literature, and part of the charm of these "Little House" books is the authors' simplistic writing style.

Are the publishers trying to convey the fact that they feel the original versions were too difficult for American children to read? If I remember correctly, this past summer, millions of children camped outside bookstores across America the day before "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" was released, and that book was crammed with 784 pages--and that wasn't even the longest one in the 7-book series! (That honor belongs to "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," which contained a shocking 870 pages.) Despite this, however, several of the most hard-core Harry fans have pored through those books in less than 24 hours, and we're afraid that these softer, simpler, and far more timeless tales of a prairie girl's childhood require severe condensation for future printings? Please.

The new covers for these books are cute, for sure, but I won't be getting rid of my original versions for these. The interesting thing is that these makeovers have been applied to the first two books of Rose's, Caroline's, Charlotte's, and Martha's story collections. They have all been shortened and spruced up with a whole new look for today's kids. Perhaps the publishers are "testing the waters" to see if these books sell, and if that's the case, I hope they sell poorly so they can recognize what a mistake it was to tamper with the original text. If they want to modernize the outside of it to increase the appeal for the current "flashier is better" society, then that is perfectly fine, but sometimes you have to put a little more thought into it than this.

In the meantime, if you have any of the old editions, hang onto them. If you want to complete your collections before the old versions go out of print, act quickly and purchase them before Ebay starts selling them away for sky-high prices. Laura Ingalls Wilder's original books are obviously the best thing to get, though, for the sake of the Garth Williams illustrations that may very well become virtually extinct within the next few years. With a little luck, the remainder of Rose's, Caroline's, Charlotte's, and Martha's books won't get the condensed treatment, and like they did with Laura's stories, maybe they will just stick with the new covers and keep the content exactly as it always was--that is, the complete, endearing tales that the public has treasured the most.

Only Laura Ingalls Wilder will ever write the way Laura did, and Little House fans who understand this will love this book and the rest of this new series. This book could stand alone as a portrait of a farm family driven off their land by greedy speculators in South Dakota and searching for a new home where the rain is plentiful. But it also works as a fascinating answer to the question many Little House fans have had: what happened to Laura, Almanzo and Rose after Laura's books ended? Mr. MacBride does an admirable job of following Laura's style as the family treks by covered wagon to Missouri where they must start life anew, with their old friends, the Cooleys. For those who don't know, this is a true story told in novel fashion. Rose is seven, and the book sees the world through her eyes. But the payoff comes from reading the whole series, through Bachelor Girl, when Rose is a grown woman making hard decisions to go out on her own when women were expected to marry or stay at home and become old maids. Aside from the portrait of Laura and Almanzo as mother and father, and Rose's point of view, these books tell the story of America at a time of tremendous technological change, just as today. Only instead of the Internet, it is the telegraph, telephone, and the like. Rose is a believable character, strong-willed like her mother, independent, and smart. Taken together, this series of eight books make a powerful impression on adults as well as children.

I first read "Little House in the Big Woods" 15 years ago as a 10-year old in the Philippines, and acquired my complete collection of the Little House books two years later when I moved to America; the collection was given to me as a gift by my older sister. Twelve years later in the Philippines, I opened another gift from the same sister, and my eyes nearly popped out when I held "Little House on Rocky Ridge" in my hands! I had never known that a whole new series of Little House books were being produced, as the books are not available in the Philippines! I was so pleased with this book, even before reading it, because now I could finally get all the answers to my unanswered questions about Laura, Almanzo, and Rose; I also had a new series to collect and dog-ear with endless readings. To my joy, I made a few more discoveries about the Ingalls family -- Pa had become Justice of the Peace, Mary was now living at home, and they now lived in a bigger house. I also realized that the story does not just focus on Rose, and the reader who knows Laura's style very well, can probably sense this easily, because Rose does not tell her own story. However, much in the tradition of the original Little House books, MacBride gives us a glimpse of a young girl's happy childhood: making, breaking, and mending friendships; helping Papa and Mama make a home; teaching herself how to grow up and adjust to change; witnessing the generosity of friends and neighbors; and embracing the love and perseverance her parents lived and taught Rose so well.

I was extremely pleasently surprised by the quality of the writing in this book and this entire series. It was very, very close to the quality of the originals. Rose is a character with her own thoughts and ideas and personality---very rounded out and not a generic American girl of the past with a few built in character traits. This is very likely because the author actually knew her so well. I loved the chance to get to know more about the rest of the story of Laura and Manly and Rose. If you are like me and are reluctant to dive into this series as you see it as perhaps a pale copy of the original, don't be! It mirrors the style, but in a good way, and it's a worthy adjunct to the original series. I really loved it.

Mr. Roger Lea Macbride is a wonderful author; he makes Rose's life more exciting and enchanted, yet realistic and serious at the same time. I lived in another country in Eastern Asia a few years before. I am now a student in Luther School, where I realized that America is truly the greatest country in the world if the Little House girls had lived in it. "Little House on Rocky Ridge is the beginning of Rose's life, from South Dakota to Missori. When I used to live in that country in Asia, books came out slower than you could ever imagine! I had only read 6 books of the Little House books in my whole life-"Little House in the Highlands", "Little House in the Big Woods", "Little House on the Prairie", "Little House in Brookfield", "Farmer Boy",and "Little House by Boston Bay". Then when I moved to America, I started on the "Rose Years", beginning with "Little House on Rocky Ridge". That was the greatest Little House book I had ever read, and now I have it, to take with me to that country in Asia to show all my friends. I'd bet they'd like to read it too! And in honor of them, I will do two things-build a "Little House" fan club for my friends, and buy the Little House books for my friends! Especially "Little Farm in the Ozarks"!!!

The kids I know seem to enjoy the continuation of this servies. This is good and I certainly would suggest they be encouraged to read this and the rest of the continuation series by MacBride. After all, reading is reading and if they enjoy them I am certainly not one to cast stones. On the other hand, for those that grew up on the originals, i.e. the Wilder books, will be very, very disappointed in this and other works by MacBride. The narrative is forced, the historical data is very, very faulty, and the overall dialogue has a sticky cloying quality about it. The stories simply are not of the same quality. But, as I said, these were written for young folks and if they enjoy them, more power to them. It is difficult enough to get kids to read anything. At least these books are familiar ground for them and certainly won't hurt them. I am giving this one the fours stars for that reason and no other.

If you like history books then this is a good book for you. The book that I read is Little House On Rocky Ridge. If you read all the other Laura Ingalls series then you'll know what I'm talking about.You see Laura Ingalls is older with a husband and a daughter who is curius, and her name is Rose. So the 3 of them and their friends moved to Wisconsin but there is a problem not a big one but a minor one. They had a 100 dollar bill from when Laura's working at the sewing place but they lost it. Will they ever find the 100 dollar bill? But there's more problems! Read the book and you will find out all the problems. This is a real good history book you will love so read this good history book!

It's Laura's road diary ficitionalized in Rose's voice, and just as charming as Little House. A little thinner on plot than the 7 books that follow, but kudos to those who thought to bring this series to print.

The book is a very good one. It is also like a book to go in Rose's years. I think this book is okay for anyone. I think it was very good. So I hope you can read it anytime!

When I was a young girl and read the Little House books for the first time I had found a treasure. As soon as my children were old enough, I read the whole series to them. When I started to read the MacBride books in order to draw out the joy of the Little House series, I was disappointed at how artificial and contrived the stories seemed to be. It felt like the author was trying hard to sound like Laura Wilder and failed. Even my kids noticed the difference.