A Little House Collection: The First Five Novels

By Laura Ingalls Wilder

Book Overview

That little girl was Laura Ingalls, and she had many adventures with her family and their beloved dog, Jack, as they traveled across the American frontier. From the Big Woods they set out in a covered wagon for a new life. They first lived on the prairie in Kansas, then on the banks of a creek in Minnesota, and finally as homesteaders near a lake in the Dakota Territory. Pioneer life was challenging and difficult, but it was also exciting as they met neighbors, built cabins, planted fields for crops, and made each new place home. And while Laura Ingalls was growing up on the western prairie, a young farmer boy named Almanzo Wilder was having adventures of his own, far away in New York State. The first five original Little House books, completely unabridged, have been brought together in this exquisite full-color volume, illustrated by Garth Williams. These award-winning timeless treasures will continue to capture the hearts of readers for generations to come.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060769092
• ISBN13: 9780060769093
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Length: 624 Pages
• Weight: 5.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.5" x 1.5" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Reading it through, again

My kids truely cannot get enough of this book! We have read it at least 4x's and are starting it again. Almost enough to make me want to hide the book. :) It is large in size but manageable. Our cover is now tearing off but this has been in constant use since its purchase two years ago and has seen some rough use. I especially like the extra pictures that are throughout the book. (Maybe one extra per book - but that is twice the number in the other books.) If you have not read these books before please realize that when reading to the very young you will need to "edit" as you read some chapters concerning the Native Americans mentioned. Please don't let this deter you from the book purchase however as it is a WONDERFUL book.

Excellent for boys and girls alike

When I first mooted to my seven year old boy the idea that I would read aloud to him stories about a pioneer family from the 1870s--a family with three girls, no boys, at that--he wanted nothing to do with it. I told him, "Let me read just the very first chapter of the first book, and if you don't like it, we'll stop." Well, at the end of the first chapter of "Little House in the Big Woods," he was hooked. We went right through all these, and he's eager to go on to the others. These are excellent stories for intelligent boys and girls because, among other things, they explain how things work, how life was conducted without benefit of electricity or almost all the comforts of modern life we take for granted--imagine camping on a permanent basis--and how a family with next to nothing by our standards is still full of joy and love. Laura Ingalls Wilders' writing is brilliantly spare with no-nonsense descriptions, and Garth Williams' drawings are simple yet immensely helpful. Not only do I recommend these highly, I'd go so far as to say that our society would be better off if these were read to every American child growing up today. Postscript: Why the first five in a collection? Four of them concern Laura Ingalls as a child, one is about her future husband, Almanzo Wilder, as a boy. They are told mostly from the perspective of a child and retain an innocence. In the sixth book, The Long Winter, Laura is in her early teens, and the themes are certainly sober, even dark at times, as the book is a narrative of a winter in which the family very nearly starves. The remaining volumes deal with Laura as she struggles to obtain an education and teacher's certificate, starts courting and gets married, and has her own family. So there's a natural break between these first five and the rest.

A Little House Collection: The First Five Novels (Little House)

My children and I love this book. I grew up watching Little House on The Prairie when I was little and wanted to share this delightful experience with them. They both enjoy the unfolding tale, particularly my 7 year old. She is eager for tomorrow and the next episode! There is great attention to detail in the writing, yet there is a feeling of it being easy to read and take in.