The first book in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s treasured Little House series—now available as an ebook! This digital version features Garth Williams’s classic illustrations, which appear in vibrant full color on a full-color device and in rich black-and-white on all other devices.This beloved story of a pioneer girl and her family begins in 1871 in a log cabin on the edge of the Big Woods of Wisconsin. … the Big Woods of Wisconsin. Four-year-old Laura lives in the little house with her Pa, her Ma, her sisters Mary and Carrie, and their dog, Jack. Pioneer life is sometimes hard for the family, but it is also exciting as they celebrate Christmas with homemade toys and treats, do the spring planting, bring in the harvest, and make their first trip into town. And every night Laura and her family are safe and warm in their little house, with the happy sound of Pa’s fiddle to send them off to sleep.
The nine Little House books are inspired by Laura’s own childhood and have been cherished by generations of readers as both a unique glimpse into America’s frontier history and as heartwarming, unforgettable stories.
more
Loved this whole series as a child. The fact that a real girl wrote these amazing stories about her life only made them better. What still sticks with me as an adult is how happy they were with what their lives contained. There was no bitterness, only thankfulness. A good lesson for people of any age: particularly in this me, me, me, more, more, more world
I love this book so much because it tells the story of Laura and her family in the 1800s in the us. It takes you back in time and shoes you what life was really like in the 1800s. I also recommend the other little house books and her daughter rose series of books if you like the first series
The question asked what was a book you loved as a child. This is the first book in the series but I read all of them. I was in the sixth grade and this is one of the first books I remember absolutely loving.
I loved this book as a child but I think I love it even more as an adult. Seeing Laura through the eyes of an adult you realize that she was always hard on herself and always saw Mary as being the perfect child. It makes me wonder how a book written by Mary Ingalls would have portrayed Laura. What shines brightest in this wonderful book is the love of family and the importance of everyone working together for the family. There is a time to work and a time to play and the Ingalls do both beautifully! A sweet, simple, hard-working family who finds joy in the everyday.
Little House in the Big Woods is the first book in a series that I loved reading as a kid. So when I came across an old copy of this book (old enough to smell like a book should), I decided to jump back into the lives of Laura Ingalls and her family. And I found the world just as rich and vibrant as I remember it being.
We are introduced to Laura when she is four years old. She lives in a forest she knows only as the Big Woods with her mother, Ma, her father, Pa, her older sister Mary, and her baby sister Carrie. We enter their lives in the middle of autumn as they are preparing for the long, frigid winter. Soon the house is full of good things to eat, like hickory smoked venison and pumpkins and cheese and peppers and so much more, and the Ingalls settle in for the winter.
The days are full of work and play and at night Pa plays his fiddle and tells stories by firelight. And when Christmas comes, there are the cousins to play with and Santa’s visit to look forward to. After several cozy months, spring comes and there’s even more to do. The girls run barefoot in the yard while Pa farms and Ma sets to work at the spring chores. And there’s a sugar snow that provides huge amounts of delicious maple sugar, and Laura gets to go to her first ever dance.
Summer rolls around, and another surprise happens: Laura and Mary get to make their first ever trip into town. There is fun outside and work to do as the seasons begin to turn to colder weather. Pa takes down his gun and sets about hunting for meat for the cold winter months. Harvest comes, and soon the house is stuffed full of good things again so the family can survive the cold season. And there we leave Laura, a five-year-old who is content and happy with her family in their log cabin in the Big Woods of Wisconsin.
The charm of Laura and her family has not faded with the years. I loved returning to the frontier where these brave souls make a living from the land. This book is great for families and bedtime stories. If you’ve ever wondered about the pioneers and how America expanded its territory, this book is great.
What a joy to see my granddaughter reading–and loving–the books I loved at age seven. She can’t get enough of these “chapter” books, including the LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS, which my mother gave me for Christmas when I was six. I was hooked on reading. I can still remember Laura and Ma and Pa and their hard life in the woods and on the prairie, extracting sap from the maple trees, building fires, warding off the elements and the animals. All with love and humor. The Laura Ingalls Wilder series is one of my favorites, then and now. Especially.
4 1/2 stars
What’s there to say about this precious classic that was read to me as a little girl, I read it to my girls and now my granddaughter will be reading it next year in school. So much history in this book of how things were done and made. How children acted etc.
I had truly forgotten how much these books make you feel good inside. How many memories of growing up they hold for me. How you start reading it and you are automatically in the story. I enjoyed reading about Martha, Charlotte and Caroline that I was kind of dreading reading Laura’s stories…again…. but I am not disappointed in the least! And the beginning ‘1st’ Little House books are from these books almost word for word which I found was very nice. So if you want to start your young child out with Laura the 1st books are wonderful and they don’t miss much at all until they are old enough to read or have these books read to them
I love to say this is so down to earth !!!!!
It really makes me appreciate the littlest things in everyday life. And I seriously do anyway.
I hadn’t read the book since 1997. Just a wonderful story while learning things about days gone by.
I remember reading and loving this book as a girl, so I was excited to introduce it to my oldest children. We read it together for this challenge and they absolutely loved it! It’s a classic book for a reason.
It’s such a simple book, and yet it speaks so tenderly to children about a time long-past. Laura is such a cute little character and had some good discussions about how we can see ourselves differently than other people see us and maybe we don’t see quite as clearly as we should (as in he case of Laura hating her brown curls). It’s also a little cute to see how much Laura adores Mary and thinks she is so much better than herself. If we had any insight into Mary’s thoughts, we’d probably see occasions when she wishes she were a little more carefree like Laura. It was also neat to talk with my children about how life was “back in the old days,” what it took to survive and thrive as a family in the woods of the Midwest.
Darling book. Can’t wait to read more of the series with my kids.
I loved this book as a child! it was the start of a wonderful children’s series.
Amazing children’s book.. highly recomend
From my favorite books as a girl. Just wonderful.
Awesome to read when you want something easy!
The Little House books were read to me when I was eight years old by my school teacher. I remember wanting to know more each and every time reading time was over. This story has stood out in my mind since then, and that is why I decided to revisit this story and read it for myself. I am reading the series to my seven year old son. As an adult, the series is not as engaging as it was when I was a child with a ripe mind. But there is no question that this story is perfect for children. My son is eating up every word and never wants me to stop reading to him. This started out as a bedtime story, but he has liked it so much that I have begun reading it at other times as well as before bed. Each chapter is written with many details to allow the reader to understand what is happening. Not many children, or adults for that matter, of this day and age know about the comings and goings of what it was like for pioneers. This is a splendid story about a little pioneer girl sharing her story with us. I would recommend this book to anyone, not just children. I am so glad that I decided to read this series for myself and remember how much I loved it as a child. And more importantly, I am glad that I can share it with my son as well.
the little house books should be read by every little girl….and boys, too.
amazing
I hadn’t read this book in years, but now I’m going to read ALL the Little House books, as a grownup. I read several of them as a kid but never made it through all of them. Now I’m reading every Little House book or extra or spin-off or whatever you call it that I can, just for the wonder and happiness of it. I loved reading this book again! Winter Days and Deer in the Wood are my favorite chapters. I love sentences like this: They were cosy and comfortable in their little house made of logs, with the snow drifted around it and the wind crying because it could not get in by the fire. I love the scenes she describes of their happy home and the animals in the big woods. I love the simple but strict ways of the family and the mischief of the children and Laura’s little thoughts. I always felt I could definitely relate to Laura, with her brown hair (me too) and wanting to be good, but not always able to stick to that resolve. And I love the very last page the absolute best. It’s the perfect ending, says me! Ah, Little House! I think next is my absolute favorite, Farmer Boy! Nope, just checked. Farmer Boy is book three. Little House on the Prairie is next!