Books like Little Town on the Prairie
Little Town on the Prairie
About two years ago I started rereading the Little House books. It started as a whim after visiting Minnesota and driving by one of the places where Laura Ingalls used to live. I had read these books with my mother when I was a child, and I grew up with the popular TV show based on the series, so there was a hefty dose of nostalgia whenever I reread one of the books.Now that nostalgia has become even more powerful, because book seven, Little Town on the Prairie, was the first one that I read aloud to my mother. My mom suffers from brain cancer and has trouble communicating, but she was so delighted to hear these stories again! She smiled and laughed, and enjoyed looking at the illustrations of life on the prairie. Little Town takes place in De Smet, South Dakota, when Laura was 15. She wants to study hard so she can earn a teacher's certificate and help pay for her blind sister, Mary, to go to college. Laura gets her first taste of adulthood when she gets a job working as a seamstress in town, and she also gets attention from a young man named Almanzo Wilder. The stories are mostly sweet and charming, with the exception of mean Nellie Oleson and a bad teacher. Luckily Pa and Ma always have some wisdom and comfort to give.Overall this was a joy to read, and I was happy to again share this story with my mother. Favorite Quote"This earthly life is a battle," said Ma. "If it isn't one thing to contend with it's another. It has always been so, and it always will be. The sooner you make up your mind to that, the better off you are, and the more thankful for your pleasures."
