By Laura Ingalls Wilder
(1932. 1994) ISBN 0064400018
On this return visit, decades after the first reading, the reader is just as charmed by Laura Ingalls and her family and their world as happened in the first visit. Memories of specific incidents may have faded but the warmth of the Ingalls family circle has maintained itself over time and this reading after years of absence has been even more pleasurable by this revisit. While one can realize that this recounting of American pioneer days is somewhat romanticized, this shortcoming is a minor detail swept along to the side due to the overall strengths of the writing by Ingalls. The details about just how a family survived on the American frontier that Ingalls includes are just the right amount of information and never lead one to boredom. The illustrations are quite welcome in getting a better understanding of the times of Laura and her family. The modern reader is aided quite a bit by these illustrations of a historical time.
During this delightful re-reading of this book, one of the things that struck this reader for the first time was the sense of humor that Ingalls employs in her storytelling. This has added further to the appreciation of this author’s work by this returning visitor to her childhood memories. As a child the humorous aspect of Ingalls’ writing was not recognized in anywhere near the same degree. Perhaps today’s readers, especially tween readers, may also undergo the same experience if as they progress in their lifetimes they also decide to pay a return visit to the Ingalls family. With so much wealth to bestow on their readers may the Ingalls and their loved ones continue to thrive!
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