The Complete Little House Nine-Book Set [BOX SET] (Paperback)

by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Author), Garth Williams (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The set includes:Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, Farmer Boy, On the Banks of Plum Creek, By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years, and The First Four Years.

Little House in the Big Woods

Wolves and panthers and bears roam the deep Wisconsin woods in the late 1870's. In those same woods, Laura lives with Pa and Ma, and her sisters, Mary and Baby Carrie, in a snug little house built of logs. Pa hunts and traps. Ma makes her own cheese and butter. All night long, the wind howls lonesomely, but Pa plays the fiddle and sings, keeping the family safe and cozy.

Little House on the Prairie

Pa Ingalls decides to sell the little log house, and the family sets out for Indian country! They travel from Wisconsin to Kansas, and there, finally, Pa builds their little house on the prairie. Sometimes farm life is difficult, even dangerous, but Laura and her family are kept busy and are happy with the promise of their new life on the prairie.

Farmer Boy

While Laura Ingalls grows up in a little house on the western prairie, Almanzo Wilder is living on a big farm in New York State. Almanzo and his brother and sisters work at their chores from dawn to supper most days -- no matter what the weather. There is still time for fun, though, especially with the horses, which Almanzo loves more than anything.

On the Banks of Plum Creek

Laura's family's first home in Minnesota is made of sod, but Pa builds a clean new house made of sawed lumber beside Plum Creek. The money for materials will come from their first wheat crop. Then, just before the wheat is ready to harvest, a strange glittering cloud fills the sky, blocking out the sun. Soon millions of grasshoppers cover the field and everything on the farm. In a week's time, there is no wheat crop left at all.

By the Shores of Silver Lake

Pa Ingalls heads west to the unsettled wilderness of the Dakota Territory. When Ma, Mary, Laura, Carrie, and baby Grace join him, they become the first settlers in the town of De Smet. And Pa begins work on the first building in what will soon be a brand-new town on the shores of Silver Lake.

The Long Winter

The first terrible storm comes to the barren prairie in October. Then it snows almost without stopping until April. Snow has reached the rooftops, and no trains can get through with food or coal. The people of De Smet are starving, including Laura's family, who wonder how they're going to make it through this terrible winter. It is young Almanzo Wilder who finally understands what needs to be done. He must save the town, even if it means risking his own life.

Little Town on the Prairie

The long winter is over. With spring come socials, parties, and "Literaries." There is also work to be done. Laura spends many hours each day sewing shirts to help send Mary to a college for the blind. But in the evenings, Laura makes time for a new caller, Almanzo Wilder.

These Happy Golden Years

Laura is teaching school, and it's terrifying! Most of the students are taller than she is, and she must sleep away from home for the first time. Laura is miserable, but the money is needed to keep Mary in a college for the blind. And every Friday -- no matter what the weather -- Almanzo Wilder arrives to take Laura home to her family for the weekend. Laura and Almanzo are courting, and even though she's not yet sixteen, she knows that this is a time for new beginnings.

The First Four Years

Laura and Almanzo Wilder have just been married! Their life on a small prairie homestead begins with high hopes. But each year seems to bring unexpected disasters -- storms, sickness, fire, and unpaid debts. These first four years call for courage, strength, and a great deal of determination. Always, though, there is love, especially for the newest member of the family -- baby Rose.

From the Back Cover
LITTLE HOUSE. BIG ADVENTURE. Celebrate the original nine books that started it all! When Laura Ingalls Wilder first wrote of her experiences growing up in the 1800s, no one could have predicted the impact her stories would have on generations of children to come! Follow Laura’s life from the glorious days spent tucked in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, all the way through to her marriage to Almanzo and the birth of her own little girl in this complete box set, once again available with Garth Williams’ beloved artwork.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback
• Publisher: HarperCollins (May 30, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064400409
• ISBN-13: 978-0064400404
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 7.6 x 5.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (163 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,223 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

102 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unforgettable Reading Experience, June 30, 2002

By	Miss Jane "book girl" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

I received my Little House box set MANY, MANY years ago for Christmas, and it sat on my shelf, a treasure waiting to be fully discovered, for the better part of 2 decades. As an English major, I've spent many hours with Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Brontes, Edith Wharton, and scores of other wonderful writers. Then one day, my best friend told me that she was reading "Little House in the Big Woods" to her 1st grade class, and that, to a child, boys and girls alike were mezmerized during story time - she'd never seen them pay such good attention.

That was all it took. One Sunday morning, I walked up to the attic, and brought down my set. Since then, I've read straight through them, often into the wee hours of the morning. The writing is outstanding (it actually becomes more grown up right along with the characters), and of course the love story is beautiful, but this series has much more to offer its readers - young and old. For one, you get a much deeper sense of how generations before us struggled, toiled really, to make this country what it is today. And the sense of family is amazing, particularly as Laura becomes old enough to live away from home and realize just how wonderful her family is.

Every child should read them. Better yet, every family should read them aloud, together. I certainly plan to read them aloud to my kids.

78 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Little House on the Praire Box Set, February 11, 2000

By	Jennifer (NJ) - See all my reviews

I always wanted to read these books, but I never did as a child. I am now 27 and I am totally enthralled by this series. I have always been an avid watcher of the TV series, but I feel you get a more intimate look at Laura and the Ingalls through the novel. I enjoy how the descriptions in the stories actually make you feel like your are traveling with the Ingalls. Whether you are 8 or 88 these books help you understand the beginning of our nation. They remind you of what family, loyalty, respect, and responsiblity mean. I can not wait to share these with my nieces and someday my children. What a wonderful way to spend time, traveling on a voyage with Laura Ingalls Wilder.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Such important books!, December 1, 2004

By	Joan C. Frank (Silver Spring, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I got "Little House in the Big Woods" when I was 7. I remember crying when I finished it because I wanted the story to go on and on. I pushed and prodded my Mom to get the rest of the books. As quickly as they appeared as birthday and Christmas presents, I devoured them. Almost 35 years later, I can say that I have read almost every book that has been written by or about Laura.

Many other reviewers have pointed out the especially wonderful aspects of the books. The narrator ages as Laura grows up. (What a cool concept!) The story of 4 year old Laura's Christmas in Wisconsin is as real and moving as the description of 18 year old Laura falling in love with Almanzo in Dakota Territory. The images are always fresh, and the stories always epitomize wholesomeness. There is a consistency all the way through "These Happy Golden Years" that shows that great care and skill were employed to make the series unwaveringly good.

The real life of Laura was strenuous and uncertain. She was poor most of her young life. She and Almanzo faced great loss and always worked very hard to run their farm. The many moves made by the Ingalls and Wilder families were made to escape difficulties like failed crops or to improve bad situations like poor health. According to available accounts, Laura did not stay in close contact with her family after she left Dakota. Her relationship with Almanzo does not seem to have been remarkable, and her relationship with her only child, Rose, was strained.

However, all of these mundane details coalesced to create some of the best books ever written. Many readers do not know that Rose was the impetus for the Little House phenomenon. She became a writer first, and she saw how she could help her mother to take the story of her life and turn it into beautiful literature. There is controversy about how much Rose helped. Some say that she was a full fledged ghost writer. In any case, it is safe to say that the Little House series was a mother/daughter collaborative effort.

A talented mother and daughter turned the memories of a difficult, pioneering life into books that I could not put down. I read and re-read them until they became part of my life experience. I know that I am one of many for whom the experience made me love reading more, made me wonder more about how other people in other times lived, made me see how good people lived in the world, and made me more alive in some way. I cannot say enough good things about these books.

Every child should read them, and every adult should read them again!