Little House on the Prairie

Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House on the Prairie. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.


Plot: The big woods provided the Ingalls family with a home for many years. Yet, their world steadily becomes more and more crowded. Eager to find a space of their own, the family travels west, to the newly opened territories in the great plains. While they have a few neighbors to rely on, Ma, Pa, Laura, Mary, and Carrie adjust to the spacious, fertile land. However, the land also contains challenges. Disease, wild animals, political changes, and isolation threaten the little family. Eventually, the pull of the challenges draw the family into a new home, in a little town.

Genre: Biography, History, Adventure

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

Similar Titles: Little Town on the Prairie, Little House in the Big Woods

Personal Thoughts: As mentioned last week, we will focus on assigned reading this week.


At the risk of dating myself, the book was part of the yearly curriculum when I was in the fifth grade. Since then, many schools have abandoned it, primarily due to the insensitive manner the family utilizes when addressing Native Americans and the western expansion of the United States. While I understand the justification of the ban, I do not think reading the book made me less sympathetic to Native Americans. In the fifth grade, I did not really notice the Native Americans. Instead, I was shocked to find out mosquitoes carry disease, Westerners said Santa rode a mule, and the girls were not allowed to sing at the table (just like me). As mentioned in my review of Little House in the Big Woods, such books remind readers of the "everyday" people of history.

I think the book could still be used as a teaching device. A few publishers now offer selected chapters of the novel in book form, allowing teachers to avoid questionable material. Reading the entire book could work as well, if another novel presenting the Native American's version of the "frontier days" was read as well. If done correctly, such a comparison could allow readers to gain a better idea of history instead of merely assigning "good" or "bad" labels to a people group. Such work, though, will require creativity and tact from the teacher.