Review of Little House on the Prairie

By Laura Ingalls Wilder, Author of Nine Books for Children

Jan 6, 2009

Little House on the Prairie follows Pa, Ma, Mary, Laura, and Baby Carrie from their home in Wisconsin on a new adventure to Indian Territory in Kansas.

Little House on the Prairie is the second book in the nine book Little House on the Prairie Series that is beloved by thousands of readers. It follows the Ingalls family on a journey from Wisconsin to Kansas and is perhaps the most popular book in the series.

The Ingalls family lives in the big woods of Wisconsin, which is becoming over populated. Game is scarce so Pa makes the decision to uproot his family and move them across the Mississippi into the Indian Territory of Kansas. The trip to Kansas is long and hard but somehow the Ingalls family makes it through and finds the perfect spot to build their little log cabin. Life is hard for the Ingalls family. Pa works hard every day to build the cabin and the barn, as well as to plow the field to plant wheat. Ma and the girls work hard every day planting a garden and doing housework. Just when life is looking good for the family, they all contract malaria and are found by a traveling doctor, who treats them just in time. After life stabilizes, the Army arrives and tells Pa that he and his family have to leave their cabin and move because of a new treaty with the Indians.

Little House on the Prairie is perhaps the most beloved of all nine books in the series. In fact, it is this book that spawns the hit television show of the same name. Adults and children a like will cherish this book for its wonderful images of the west and the hardships the people during the time period went through on a daily basis.

One of the best aspects of the book is the wonderfully developed characters. Pa is kind, yet firm while Ma is always gentle. Mary is calm and studious while Laura runs around looking for Indians. In essance, they are the perfect American family and are heralded as such by the thousands of readers who have picked up this book. What makes this book stand out from Little House in the Big Woods is that it reads like fiction whereas Big Woods tends to be more descriptive.

Other Books in the Little House on the Prairie Series

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