horses

I very sweet romance! Laura is all grown up and a real lady. What a cozy book!

This book is just exactly what I needed. As the world has kind of spiraled into chaos, I’ve found myself unable to concentrate on anything, though I knew that sinking into a story would give my mind a much-needed reprieve from the news and the fear it brings with it. Fantasy world building was too different to feel at all believable for my current mood, and contemporary fiction didn’t provide enough of an escape. I finally decided that what I needed was something historical, something firmly lodged in reality but far removed from the modern world in which we dwell. I needed bright and wholesome and something that would remind me that, no matter how the times change, people change with them and eventually learn to conquer any obstacles in their path. I can think of no series that more perfectly encapsulates all of those needs than The Little House on the Prairie. Though I’ve read most of the series in the past, I had never read this particular book. And it was such a breath of fresh air. I know that this series has, in recent years, been reclassified as problematic, mostly for the racism portrayed by certain central characters. Yes, that racism is present. But as that was legitimately how pioneers felt during the westward expansion, isn’t it better to include those views so as to discuss and refute them that it is to banish them from history? We can’t learn from our mistakes if we whitewash our past and pretend that we’ve always been enlightened. Racism aside, and ignoring the fact that the author often waxes poetic about her own selflessness in the third person as well as the fact that her “authorship” is greatly exaggerated as her daughter did a majority of the writing, this series is just delightful. Modern readers tend to view this prairie past as “simpler times,” but most of us would not handle the multitude of hardships these settlers faced with anywhere near their resilience and grace. The times they lived in were much harder. But the difference in daily life and setting is a joy to experience through the eyes of Laura Ingalls. In this particular book, we see her has a young woman for the first time instead of a child. We witness her first teaching experience in the beginning of the novel and her marriage in its final pages. While there were some instances that had me rolling my eyes, like the Ingalls’ family purchase of an organ when they really couldn’t afford it, I thoroughly enjoyed my escape to a different time in history. It was a balm in a difficult time.

I think I read this book about 30 or 40 times as a teenager. Love the story of Laura and Almanzo!

This series is just perfection, it’s been my comfort series for over a year and I just love it so much. The reality that I only have one book left and then I’m done is slowing dawning on me and I DON’T LIKE IT. I loved reading about Laura as a school teacher, and her Sunday afternoon drives with Almanzo were very fun. I’m excited to read the last book, but it’s gonna be be very bittersweet.

Read this to my daughter before bedtime.

I will add to this review later, since it is late my time, but....... AHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA MYYYHEARTTTTT if anyone has read these books and does not like them.... go away! Far away and I don’t want to see you or hear you ever again! They are wonderful and amazing and sooo pure and precious’

Paige & I read this together. She lost interest because of romance 😂 but I liked it!