Pioneer Woman by Harvey Dunn
This week my son and I finished our latest bedtime read-aloud, By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I decided this book would be my choice for the 2020 Back to the Classics Challenge category of a “Classic with Nature in the Title.”
Somehow as a child, I somehow missed reading any of the “Little House” books. As such, I have enjoyed sharing my first exploration of these stories along with my children. Wilder’s writing style is both delightfully childlike and literary at the same time, and it is easy to see why these books have become classics.
My only problem as I read this book was that I have also been reading a biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder and a history of her times, as well as the life of Rose Wilder (Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser). It was hard for me to suspend disbelief while reading By the Shores of Silver Lake more than previous books, knowing that not all was as it seemed and that the family faced more difficulties to come than were hinted at in this work. Still, as a children’s classic, this book certainly has its place in the series, and Laura’s enduring love for the wild, open prairie shines through even today.
The Little House books were the first chapter books I read to my kids & even though we’re not American we loved them. My husband brought back a boxed set for us when he went to the USA for work. We still have the set 27 years later but they’re falling apart from overuse.
Aw, I love that!