5. Little Town on the Prairie. Laura Ingalls Wilder. Illustrated by Garth Williams. 1941. 374 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, audiobook, historical fiction, children's classic]
First sentence: One evening at supper, Pa asked, "How would you like to work in town, Laura" Laua could not say a word. Neither could any of the others. They all sat as if they were frozen.
I enjoyed rereading Little Town on the Prairie. Is it completely perfect in every way? Probably not. (The idea of Pa joining in a minstrel show performance still doesn't sit well with me. Just like I don't like the dialogue of the Native American in The Long Winter--when he warns them of the winter ahead. But other than that, I don't have any real issue with the book). In this book:
- The family moves back to their homestead for the summer and fall
- The Ingalls get a cat AFTER Pa's hair is "cut" by mice in the night!
- Laura gets a job assisting a seamstress
- Laura and Carrie and Pa go to a fourth of July celebration; lemonade is involved
- Blackbirds come and threaten numerous crops; some of the corn is saved and will be dried for winter consumption
- Mary goes away to college
- The family moves back to the town for the winter
- Laura and Carrie attend school
- Nellie Oleson is one of the 'country' girls attending school
- Nellie becomes teacher's pet; the new teacher is Eliza Jane Wilder
- Laura gets her first ride behind Almanzo's horses (she's running late for school, she had to order name cards)
- A Literary Society (of sorts) is formed in town for the winter
- The book actually covers TWO winters in town, but, we barely learn anything about the spring/summer/and fall in between the winters.
- Laura attends several revival meetings and Almanzo asks to see her home each night!
- Almanzo hints that he wants to take her sledding.
- Laura gets her teaching certificate
I listened to Little Town on the Prairie on audiobook! It was fantastic!
© 2026 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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