These Happy Golden Years: A Newbery Honor Award Winner

By Laura Ingalls Wilder

Book Overview

The eighth book in Laura Ingalls Wilder's treasured Little House series. This edition features the classic black-and-white artwork from Garth Williams.

Laura is teaching school, and it's terrifying Most of the students are taller than she is, and she must sleep away from home for the first time. Laura is miserable, but the money is needed to keep Mary in a college for the blind.

And every Friday--no matter what the weather--Almanzo Wilder arrives to take Laura home to her family for the weekend. Laura and Almanzo are courting, and even though she's not yet sixteen, she knows that this is a time for new beginnings.

The nine books in the timeless Little House series tell the story of Laura's real childhood as an American pioneer, and are cherished by readers of all generations. They offer a unique glimpse into life on the American frontier, and tell the heartwarming, unforgettable story of a loving family.

As Laura steps into adulthood, she faces new challenges and discovers love for the first time.

A Young Teacher's Courage: At only fifteen, Laura must manage a classroom of students older than herself, all while boarding in a difficult and unhappy home.A Sweet Courtship: Every Friday, Almanzo Wilder makes the long, cold sleigh ride to bring her home for the weekend, sparking a gentle and heartwarming romance.Family Comes First: Laura endures her hardships for a noble cause: the money she earns is the only thing keeping her blind sister, Mary, in college.Classic Pioneer Story: Experience the joys and challenges of life on the American frontier in this treasured installment of the beloved Little House series.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060264802
• ISBN13: 9780060264802
• Release Date: October 1953
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.9" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Just what I wanted

Listened to CDs while on the train eastbound, and then in our rental car as my ten-year-old granddaughter and I approached Walnut Grove, Minnesota and DeSmet, South Dakota on our "Laura Ingalls Wilder" journey during their Pageant weeks, and while engaging in historic sites. We had re-read all nine books in preparation for our travels, but the CDs, beautifully read by Cherry Jones, were not only a reminder, but added different interpretations, and joy.

Little House Stories Come to Life

Hearing the Little House stories in audio bring them to life. I noticed things in the stories I didn't catch by just reading them. I can listen to them anywhere now.

The Best Novel Late In The Little House Series

This book is mainly concerned with the courtship and marriage of Almanzo Wilder and Laura Ingalls. The town of DeSmet has boomed and grown and slowed down by this time and life has found comfortable rhythms. Pa is a prosperous farmer and townsman, Laura is a teacher, and Almanzo is a respected businessman who also farms a holding on the town's edge. One can tell this novel meant a lot personally to Laura and that she enjoyed re-visiting these "happy, golden years" in her own life and sharing them with us. One of the three or four best of all the Little House novels.

The last book in the series published before her death.

This book, which was a 1944 Newbery Honor Book (that is, a runner-up to the Medal winner), continues the autobiography of Mrs. Wilders (1867-1957) through the years 1883 to 1885 when the author was 15 to 18 years old. It begins immediately after the events described in "Little Town on the Prairie"; she immediately begins her career as a school teacher in a very small schoolhouse about twelve miles to the south of De Smet, South Dakota (although South Dakota doesn't become a state until 1889). Through experimentation, practice, and management, she becomes a good school teacher and is able to keep up with her own studies. And, at the same time, earn enough money to help keep her sister Mary in a college for the blind in Iowa. Almanzo Wilder (1857-1949) continues to court her and drives her home each weekend in a horse-drawn sleigh. As time goes by their friendship turns to love and they are married and Laura goes off to Almanzo's homestead to have her own little house on the prairie. Throughout the book, the author continues to include details of frontier/homesteader life that brings that part of our history to life and shows how people worked hard to overcome difficulties, never giving up. In my opinion, this is the best written of all of the books in the series. It also shows the love that Laura and Almanzo truly had for each other.