Review of Little Town on the Prairie

By Laura Ingalls Wilder, Author of Little House on the Prairie

Jan 7, 2009

Readers have followed the Ingalls family from Wisconsin all the way to South Dakota. Now read about them and their social life in town as Laura grows up and finds a beau

In Little Town on the Prairie, Laura is almost fifteen years old and nearing the completion of her schooling. She hopes to become a teacher so she can help send money to her sister, Mary, who is attending a school for the blind in Iowa. But, in the meantime, she learns all about growing up. She also finds herself with a new beau.

The Ingalls family has many comforts of life after the hard winter of blizzards. They live on their homestead in the spring and summer and live in town during the winter, just in case of blizzards. She and her sisters love living in both places and going to school in town. They all raise enough money to sent Mary to a school for the blind in Iowa. Laura and Carrie attend school in town and have to contend with snooty Nellie Olson on a daily basis. She makes friends with the teacher, Miss Eliza Jane Wilder, and casts Laura in an unfavorable light. But, despite all of this, Laura works hard in school and catches the attention of Almanzo Wilder, who begins courting her after her exhibition at the end of the school year. Will they fall in love?

Little Town on the Prairie is the seventh book in the Little House on the Prairie series and is an absolutely delightful read, especially for those who are interested in Laura and Almanzo's blossoming relationship. Readers will love to see Laura diligently study so that Mary can have the money she needs for school. They will also love the surprise at the end of the book. Laura becomes a certified teacher before she turns sixteen.

As a whole, Little Town on the Prairie offers a wonderful look into Laura's adolesence. Children who read this book will learn that their own childhood and adolesence veries little from that of Laura's because in fact, we all develop about the same regardless of the time period. Overall, this book ranks higher than most of the others in the series because of its content. Readers can see the switch from wild 14 year old Laura to womanly 16 year old Laura in the same book.

Other Books in the Little House on the Prairie Series

Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little Town on the Prairie. HarperTrophy, 1941. 307 pages. ISBN: 9780064400077

The copyright of the article Review of Little Town on the Prairie in Children’s Books is owned by Jessica Workman. Permission to republish Review of Little Town on the Prairie in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.