reading (Little House in the Big Woods)

I finished "Little House in the Big Woods" on Tuesday, I think. When I last read it I was a wee little tot.

Even when I read it as a child the book struck me as a bit sweet and over nice. I'm sure this is intentional and it was probably as badly needed when I was a kid as it is now, although from my perspective it's more needed now. Some where between the pure white of these books and the muddiness of reality there is a good balance.

I was surprised who instructional this book was. It doesn't give every detail, but it tells the overall procedure for a lot of basic things. Some of the details that are included strike me as knowledge that stands a great chance of being lost in 100 years. For example, the sugar maples are now tapped with metal, not hand carved wooden pegs. Who will remember what wood to use to avoid imparting a bad flavor into the syrup.

I enjoyed the consistent building of each character. The moral lessons imparted through their behavior is consistent with the characters and woven with their flaws. It's nice to see a book were the lessons aren't tacked on the outside of the story with a couple of nails.

I wonder how many of today's children can relate to this series. I grew up on a small farm 100 years after the time of the books, we didn't do all the things described in the book, but we did quite a few of them. Much of what I was reading were things my family did or variations on things my family did. That drew me into the books. Do the books hold kids today?

46. Laura Ingalls Wilder "Little House in the Big Woods"

reading (Little House on the Prairie)

I finished reading "Little House on the Prairie" this morning. I can't remember at what age I originally read this book, but it was a long time ago, back when I lived on the farm.

From my reading as a kid I didn't remember how clearly the situation with the Indians was spelled out. During my reread I was quite surprised, both by how much the characters knew and how clearly things were spelled out for the reader. The way this book lays things out without preaching right or wrong is handled with grace and subtlety. There are implications here that most kids probably won't pick up on, but they will probably get the larger moral conflict as it plays out.

There is a good balance of exciting incidents, instruction, and character building. This book has some real dark aspects and some scary bits. I think it would be a good book to have a discussion at the end of each chapter with a younger kid. You might get some fruitful discussions and open up and air out an malignant fears stirred up by the chapter.

47. Laura Ingalls Wilder "Little House on the Prairie"

OotP

We went to see "Order of the Phoenix" with littleredhead and groundctrl on Friday night. derien and I ended up talking about the movie and the upcoming book until midnight.

( No real specific spoilers, but general stuff about the movie, which you might not want to know before you see it. )