Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Reading Little House on the Prairie 
by Laura Ingalls Wilder took me back in time to when I used to watch the series on TV, which is based on this book. The book was an impulse purchase after I reviewed the list of books on Amazon’s 100 Must-Read Books. When the story starts, Charles Ingalls wants to move his family – wife Caroline, and daughters, Mary, Laura and Carrie – from the Big Woods of Wisconsin to the West. He sells their house and possessions that they cannot take with them.
Little House on the Prairie takes place in the 1870s, after the American Civil War, and when the United States was still undeveloped – there was a lot of wilderness area, what it must have been like to travel in a wagon across Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas. At the time, the government was forcing American Indians to relocate so that white settlers could use the land.
Narrated by Laura Ingalls who is five or six years old, the Ingalls family and their dog Jack, travel from Wisconsin to the Prairie region. It isn’t smooth sailing and they face some difficult situations on the journey. In one instance, Charles has to leave the wagon to help the two horses Pet and Patty navigate the rising creek. It is a very tense moment, and they forget all about Jack, until they safely cross the creek. Going back into the creek is not an option, but they walk about hoping to spot him. Thinking that their dog is dead, and feeling very sad, the family continue on their journey to the West.
Having the will to live, Jack swims across the lake and travels many miles to find his family, who is very happy to discover that their dog is alive. After traveling a great distance, Charles finds a suitable place to settle with his family – miles and miles of Prairie land as far as the eyes can see. He knows that it’s Indian country, but before leaving Wisconsin he received notice that whites could inhabit the region. Charles starts to build a home for the family, he discovers a neighbor, Mr Scott, two miles away. He later discovers other settlers on both side of the creek. Although he does most of the work himself, he gets some help from his neighbors to build his home and the well. They help each other out in that virgin territory.
The language in Little House on the Prairie is beautiful and it’s heartwarming to see people enjoying the simplicities of life – children running around playing in the wide open space. This brought back memories of my childhood growing up in a rural area in Jamaica. In the story, there is a stark contrast in the personalities of Mary and Laura. Although Mary is two years older, she is very timid, and also very obedient, while Laura is precocious, bold and willing to push the limits. Laura is also more imaginative and asks many questions.
There are several instances when American Indians invade their home and demand things. But who can blame them? How would you feel if someone forced you out of the only home you knew, and gave it to someone else? Charles instills in his family the importance of living peaceably with the Indians. I found his views very liberal, and very unlike other people from that era. They face some tense moments with wolves that are plentiful in the area, and with Indians who are resentful because of the way they have been treated. They have to be inventive and imaginative in fighting a prairie fire. After settling down for about a year, and in the middle of the process of farming the untamed land, Charles learns that the soldiers are coming and will arrest the white settlers. He is annoyed because now there are mixed messages to the white settlers.
Once again the Ingalls family is on the move, but this time they are traveling to Independence city which is about 40 miles away. I admire the family’s fortitude and their willingness to leave many of their possessions behind to start over again. This reminds me of how tethered we are to our possession, which holds us back, and prevents us from moving forward at times. Reading this book was far more pleasurable than The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder is not without its fault, the way that the author refers to Indians is offensive, but we cannot blame her because she was writing about how others felt about them at the time, and we know that that wasn’t the way she personally felt about Indians because her father trained her the right way.
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Author Bio: Avil Beckford, an expert interviewer, entrepreneur and published author is passionate about books and professional development, and that's why she founded The Invisible Mentor and the Virtual Literary World Tour to give you your ideal mentors virtually in the palm of your hands by offering book reviews and book summaries, biographies of wise people and interviews of successful people.
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