Litte House on the Prairie Discussion Post

This is the second discussion post for the Little House on the Prairie Read-a-long- Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. For a complete schedule see this post. I have moved the opening day of each discussion to the first Monday of the month, instead of the first day of the month. Things should just start on a Monday. You are not in any way require to post on opening day, and the discussions can continue throughout the month before moving onto the next book. There really are no rules.

This post and the comments will contain spoilers.

So when we last left Laura, she was living in a tiny cabin in the woods. At the end of that year, Pa decides that the family needs to take advantage of the land that is opening up to settlers in Kansas, and packs everyone into the wagon and they take off. It takes the family weeks to cross the prairie and eventually they settle close Independence, Kansas. Pa builds a house and stable, digs a well and they begin to settle. Unfortunately for the Ingalls family, the abandoned Indian path past their house turns out not to be so abandoned, and the "open land" turns out to still belong to the Osage tribe, and at the end of the year, the family packs up and returns to Wisconsin.


Things are getting a little more real for the Ingalls this year, aren't they?? From the river crossing at the beginning to the prairie fire at the end, and it's all just part of life. Can you even imagine needing to know everything Ma and Pa knew how to do just to survive? How to build a house, how to dig a well, how to beat a prairie fire. I'm exhausted just reading it. I read several of the stories in this one out loud to various family members and despite knowing it's (mostly) true, it reads so much like fiction as to be nearly unbelievable.  Can you imagine packing up and leaving your family and knowing that you may never see them again, and never know what happened to each other?

Remember in the last book how I quoted that bit about the sky being so big? It happens again in Prairie! In my copy this is on page 10, but I read a Large Print copy, so may be different in your copy. I'm curious to see if this will be a recurring theme in all of the books.

All day long Pet and Patty went forward, trotting and walking and trotting again, but they couldn't get out of the middle of that circle. When the sun went down, the circle was still around them and the edge of the sky was pink. Then slowly the land became black. The wind made a lonely sound in the grass. the camp ire was small and lost in so much space. But large stars hung from the sky, glittering so near that Laura felt she could almost touch them.

So let's talk about it:

1. How about that lake crossing? It wasn't scary until it was over and then I couldn't stop thinking about a family just vanishing in the ice.
2. And then the creek crossing right after- just how safe were those wagons?
3. How long do you think it really took Pa and Mr. Edwards to build the house and stable? And why don't we hear about Pa being gone to help Mr. Edwards with his?
4. Do you think Mrs. Scott was a bit hysterical with her fascination with the massacre, or do you think maybe she's the most realistic person on the prairie?
5. Do you think Pa really believed the prairie to be as safe as he insisted, or was he just trying to reassure Ma and the girls?
6. Fever 'n' Ague- yet another way to wipe out entire families!
7. Another Christmas of plenty. Or not. I read this part to my sons, who couldn't even pay attention they found it so unrealistic. I kept trying to bribe them with pennies, and they all but laughed. The internet suggests this is about $.20 today.  How excited would you have been to get your own cup for Christmas? (I got myself a new mug just yesterday, but I don't plan to use it for every meal.)
8. The story of Mr. Edwards and Santa was my favorite part of the book, what was your favorite?
9.  Do you think Ma was relieved to pack and and go home at the end, or upset about a wasted year? Can you imagine changing your entire life in a day like that? Or being able to pack your entire house in just a few hours (I'm moving in three weeks. I WISH I could!)
10. It seemed to me that Laura was really reinforcing the idea of Mary as the perfect girl while Laura was the naughty one. Do you think this was exaggerated for the sake of the books? As a way to build sympathy for Mary later (dun dun dun, foreshadowing?)
11. The elephant in the room- Can we really feel sorry for Pa for having to give up his hard work when the land still belonged to the Osage?  I looked up Du Chene and it seems that perhaps Laura took some liberties with him, but in any case, do you think there was one anti-war Chief that saved them all? How scary would the war cries and drums have been? It seems that the entire family was on the breaking point listening. 
12. Any other thoughts?

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Read-a-long discussion

The Little House on the Prairie Read-a-Long officially starts today!  I know that many of you are still working on locating copies of the books, and the way I have the read-a-long planned this is no big deal. You can always go back to a previous book, or skip a title all together. For a schedule of books, see this post.

This post and the comments will contain spoilers.

In 1870s Wisconsin, young Laura Ingalls lives in a small cabin in the big woods with her parents and sisters. With very little contact with others, the Ingalls family has to provide for everything they need, and defend themselves against the bears, wolves and winter.

As I was reading Little House in the Big Woods, I was struck by the idea that I could not imagine a current writer writing a story like this for small kids. The book is set over the course of a year and while there are small (very small) moments of suspense, it's more a diary of what happens. There is no climatic ending like we've grown to expect in books, and it's easy to imagine it quietly continuing into another book, as it does. Laura and her family work through the seasons, preparing for winter, stock piling food, adding natural insulation to the house, and making quilts and mittens.  They enjoy a festive Christmas with their cousins, and a dance at their Grandparents. Before you know it, it's Spring and they all go to town, and then summer and it's time to harvest. The book concludes with the arrival of Jack Frost and the beginnings of preparations for the next winter.

Here in Pierre, we just had a five day weekend (for the Pirate) and/or a three day weekend (for Mike.) We were all a bit under the weather on Sunday, and then yesterday each of us left the house very briefly, but it was bitterly cold, windy, and very hard to breathe. By the time bedtime finally rolled around, I was more than ready to return to our normal life and send Mike and the Pirate back into the world. All this to say, I can not imagine staring at each other all day every day all winter long. We have lots of toys, lots of technology, and electric heat and it was crazy making. While the book makes it clear that Laura and Mary squabble some, it seems that they all enjoy each others company for long periods of time, and there is little of the fighting that goes on here.

This leads me to another point, one that I think many children (US children anyway) would find shocking- At Christmas, Laura gets her first doll. Prior to this, she played with a corncob and pretended it was a doll. Otherwise, they got a piece of candy and some mittens and they were all thrilled!  Here in my immediate family, we celebrate Christmas quietly, but not that quietly. Even my kids would be shocked by this scarcity. They would not find the food to be overly special, because even their favorite foods aren't saved up for a special occasion. In the summer, the girls play outside using acorns and leaves as toys, and while I definitely remember doing that as a child, and I know my kids will do that (only using sticks as swords, not acorns as tea cups), they would be bored with that day after day. This does inspire me to take them out this summer, and encourage more creative play with nature.

As I was reading, I was surprised by just how many of the stories I remember reading as a child. I haven't re-read the books since I was the targeted age, and assumed it would be fairly new to me again, but this turned out not to be the case. The doll at Christmas, the story of the two bears, the picture of Aunt Docia and Aunt Ruby getting ready for the dance, all of that was familiar to me and the rest filled in naturally. I'm thrilled to be reading them again as an adult, and it find much of it to be just as fascinating as I did then. There are just so many details of what life was like without our modern technology, and while I have no desire to live then, I am enjoying reading about it.

And last, this quote from their trip to town:

The sky was large overhead. Laura had never known that the sky was so big.There was so much empty space all around her that she felt small and frightened, and glad that Pa and Ma were there.
-p.164

I was so sure I had mentioned this on the blog, but I can't find any record of it- when I first moved to South Dakota at age 27, the wide open sky would make me cry. I didn't feel it in Rapid City, but for the first few years if we happened to be driving across the state at night, it would overwhelm me and I'd find myself blinking back tears for no explainable reason. That sensation of being small is very real, when you see how big the sky really is. The picture I used for the Read-a-Long button is only a glimpse of what it's really like. This has mostly gone away with time, and now I am just fascinated by the night sky on the prairie, but I could really relate to Laura in that instance.  Have any of you experienced this?

So let's talk a bit. Answer in the comments (or not, as the mood strikes!)

Was this your first time reading the book?
Were these childhood favorites?
What scene stood out the most to you?
Do you think your children could play all summer with two dolls and some acorns?
Do you think kids today like the books as much as we did? As much as our parents did?
Would you take a bite of head cheese?
How different do you think these books would be if told from the perspective of Ma or Pa? (And I don't believe for a minute they would have the same perspective!)
Society would tell us that the fascination to be super skinny was a fairly new thing, but Pa could span Ma's waist with his hands, and Scarlett O'Hara had a 16" waist. What do you think about that? (For comparison, the Princess's waist, which is too skinny to keep up most 2T pants, is 18".)
How would your family handle three days of enforced togetherness? A week? A month?
What about the songs Pa sang? Am I the only one who skimmed those?
What was your favorite moment in the book?
What other thoughts do you have on the book as a whole?



We will begin discussion of Little House on the Prairie on April 1, but this post will remain open for comments and discussion for the duration.

Find the Read-a-Long on twitter with hashtag #littlehouseRAL.
 

The Little House on the Prairie Read-a-Long!

Wow, can you even imagine living in the wide open space like that? Look how far that sky goes on! What if you had no phone, and no tv, and no computer? And had to tie a rope to the barn to find it in the blizzard*?   Join me in a Little House on the Prairie read-a-long for all the fun details of what it was really like. Here's the plan:

Once a month I'll post an intro to the next book, and hopefully tie it in to actual facts with some fun internet research. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and when we get to the South Dakota books my family can take a little road trip and add some fun pictures to the event.

I've chosen to read eight of the original nine titles, leaving out Farmer Boy , as I never really felt it fit in with the rest. If you want to read Farmer Boy, go right ahead. If you want to skip some titles, feel free to do that as well.  I'm planning to do this very slowly, with one title a month, with the exception of the first book, Little House in the Big Woods, since it's so short.  I'm planning to post my introduction post and review the first Monday of each month, and allow discussion in the comments for the entire month before moving on to the next book. If you wish to race ahead, feel free to do so. (It was a tough decision on how long to allow for each book!)

This is the tentative schedule:

February 19th: Little House in the Big Woods- the discussion post is here!
March:Little House on the Prairie
April:On the Banks of Plum Creek
May:By the Shores of Silver Lake
June:The Long Winter
July:Little Town on the Prairie
August:These Happy Golden Years
September: The First Four Years

Sadly, they are not available in e-book format, but they are available as audio and most libraries carry several full sets. My thrift store usually has a couple copies of each title on the shelf as well, and I know many of you have your own childhood copies available.  I'll pop a link to this post over in the sidebar so you can find it as you need it.  There will be no official signup for this, and I'll remind you of it often. Feel free to post on previous titles if you join in late, or if you can't locate your copy before the start date.  You can follow the discussion on Twitter with the hashtag #littlehouseRAL.

And I'm not naming names, but more than a few of you expressed an interest in this, so don't chicken out now! It's not like I'm asking you to read 8 full length adult novels, these are written for 8 year olds, you can handle it.

Any questions?

*In a fun turn of events, this scene from The Long Winter is repeated in a romance novel I just read. I'm choosing to believe it's a nod to Laura Ingalls Wilder, though probably it was just that common a practice.

Centaurs, Readalongs, Books, Books, Books.

• In addition to not liking school, the Pirate is still struggling to find a book that he enjoys reading. The things he has interest in (Harry Potter, Percy Jackson) are just a bit too hard. He still scorns The Magic Treehouse and other books of the appropriate level. The one thing he is very into is an online game called Wizard 101. In Wizard 101 there are all these references to other characters from famous stories and myths. He is actually interested in reading Greek myths, but only the ones with fantastic creatures- centaurs, gorgons, satyrs. Last night I ordered a book of called What a Beast!: A Look-it-Up Guide to the Monsters and Mutants of Mythology (Mythlopedia). I hope it becomes something for him to pore over, and sparks his interest in more of the myths. It looks a little hard for him, but my fingers are crossed.
• This was a crazy busy week here. Mike was gone a couple of nights. I went to the History Book Club meeting. On Wednesday I had a job interview- it went well, but no decision for a while. It's not my dream job, but I could (and would) do it well.  I am still hoping to get into a position that is a bit more academic in nature- history, or books, or library related- but you don't turn down a job interview.
• I continue to be surprised when schools in the South cancel for bad weather 12 hours in advance of the weather happening. I understand that it's hard for them to drive on ice and snow, but at least wait for the ice and snow to start!
• I am considering the idea of a Laura Ingalls Wilder Readalong. There are Nine books in the series though, and I'm not sure if I'd want to do all of them. So a couple of questions- pick a few of the better known ones and just do those or make it more of a reading challenge to span the year and do all nine? Just pick one? The Long Winter ? Input?
• I am ahead of schedule on hexes! But I'm running out of paper pieces. I just discovered that Creative Memories made a paper punch the right size and I'm stalking them on Ebay. Sadly, they do not go for cheap, so unless I can snag one for under $20, it's not happening. 
• I made a list of due dates for non-renewable library books. I made a list of release dates for NetGalley books (once I figured out I could download them a second time when the first 55 days were up it changed the pressure.) I stopped putting library holds on books for myself. I got my library checkouts down to a mere 23 (for me, don't ask how many total we have. Let's just say that my family keeps circulation numbers up.) And then I went to that book club meeting, and had to request Free Land by Rose Wilder Lane, and then Gone Girl came in. (Tho after reading Andi's review, I'm thinking maybe I can put it off a bit longer?)  This seems doable. (I can hear you laughing!)

What I Read This Week:

• The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Of course I started it. You should see my thrift store copy, it is WELL loved. (I do have my own copies of the series, but they are, as you might guess, in storage.)
• Too Wicked to Wed by Cara Elliot. I like this one very much, but reading time has been scarce and I'm a bit bummed that the library's new Inter Library Loan policy means I might as well just buy the rest of the series.
• The Sea of Tranquility: A Novel by Katja Millay. This was on a lot of Best Of lists last year. I've barely started it and when I realized it didn't release for a few months yet I moved it on down the list to wait a while. It starts off well though!
• The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson. I follow @maurenjohnson on twitter, and absolutely had to read this one. She's a terrific example of how to market your own book. I have this in both e-book form and hard copy (both from the library). The e-book expires soon, so I swapped over to it. I have high hopes for this one. I'd LOVE to continue my streak of excellent books so far in 2013. (Wouldn't everyone?)

Picturing Pierre: The Long Winter

A friend of mine emailed me yesterday to ask if I were planning to attend last night's meeting of the local History Book Club. I wasn't, I didn't even know about the meeting, but they were talking about The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and between that and some other details, I decided I would attend. The meetings are held at the Cultural Heritage Center, which is the location of the above photo of the Pirate.  I was the first car to arrive and the museum looked dark, so I waited in my car for a while until a few others arrived. (And let me tell you, those 10 minutes alone in my warm, dark, QUIET car? Best 10 minutes of my day.)

The speaker for the evening was Nancy Tsytad Koupal, the director of Research and Publishing for the South Dakota State Historical Society.  The SDSHS Press is hard at work on publishing Laura Ingalls Wilder's autobiography, Prairie Girl.  They have a website devoted to the project that includes such things as videos of Laura's house, the desk where she wrote, and Pa's fiddle. The autobiography itself is a handwritten document that they are carefully transcribing into an electronic form. Previous typed copies included edits by Laura's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, and the SDSHS Press would like to use the original document. (Interesting side note: back when I lived in Alabama and worked at Burritt on the Mountain, one of my jobs was to transcribe the handwritten diary of Dr. Burritt's first wife, Pearl Budd Johnson, from 1892. It took me a very long time before I could even decipher part of the text- her handwriting was incredibly hard to read. It was not completed before I left.)

Ms Koupal gave a very interesting talk about Laura Ingalls Wilder in general, and then we all talked a bit about The Long Winter in specific. For many of the people at the meeting, The Long Winter is their favorite Laura Ingalls Wilder book. In many cases, this was because they would relate to the blizzard and it was fascinating to them to see how the pioneers made out in a storm. Despite not having read any of them in nearly 30 years, The Long Winter is also the most memorable for me. Since I am from Alabama, had little experience with snow, and NO experience with blizzards, the entire book seemed like pure fantasy. So much snow you'd get lost on the way to the barn? Impossible! The entire conversation makes me compelled to read the book again as an adult, and as a South Dakota resident, and see if I find it plausible now. (Spoiler: it is.)

A couple weekends ago Mike and I took the kids to the Children's Museum in Brookings, SD. On our way there we drove through DeSmet, SD, which is where Laura grew up, and the setting for both The Long Winter and By the Shores of Silver Lake . Several of the buildings and homes from her life have been preserved and there is a formal tour for visiting and touring the site. Unfortunately, they are closed on the weekend, so the best I could do was take pictures from the curb. We have plans to go back in the summer and check it out in better detail. (The snow in the pictures is pure coincidence, but I think it adds to the authenticity of this post, no?)

For more information you can visit the SDSHS Press, the Prairie Girl Project,  the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society, or the Ingalls Homestead site.

I'll let you know when I re-read The Long Winter, and how it stands up to time.

Edited to add: The Little House on the Prairie Read-a-Long is taking place! Go here for details.