Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Little House on the Prairie
Illustrator: Garth Williams
Historical Fiction Series
For ages 8 and up
HarperCollins, 1953 ISBN: 978-0060264451
Mary, Laura, Carrie, Ma and Pa have left their little house in the big woods of Wisconsin. They are traveling west in their covered wagon, going to the Indian territory where the land is good for crops and where there are few people. Everything they own is in the wagon and good faithful Jack, their bulldog, walks under the wagon, never complaining about his aching paws or the roaring creeks that have to be crossed.
After many days of travel, Pa finally decides that they have gone far enough, and the family members set about building a new life for themselves on the prairie where the wind blows, the prairie chickens scuttle, and where Indians roam, riding their tough little ponies.
Pa soon builds a log cabin for his family. Luckily there are a few other settlers in the area and one man in particular - Mr. Edwards - proves to be a kind and valuable neighbor who can be depended upon to offer help when it is needed.
Life in this new land is not easy. The family have to deal with curious Indians, illness, wildfire, storms, and much more, but Laura cannot help loving the open prairie with its huge skies and its blowing grasses.
In this book Laura Ingalls Wilder beautifully tells the story of her family’s journey from the north woods to the open and unsettled prairies. Readers will discover how frightened many of the settlers were of the Indians, and how uncertain life was for these brave pioneers who broke the sod on the prairie to plant their crops. It is extraordinary to hear about how this family created something from nothing, and how they made do, and were happy, with so little.
This is the second book in the highly acclaimed and immensely popular Little House series.
