Book Review: Caroline, A Little House Revisited

Title: Caroline, Little House Revisited
Author: Sarah Miller
Genre: Adult Historical Fiction
Released in: 2017
Pages: 367
My Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis: This is Laura Ingalls Wilder’s story from Little House on the Prairie, told from her mother’s point of view. We get innermost thoughts and commentary from Caroline, and her feelings about what happened on the prairie back in the 1870s. She and her husband, along with her little girls, set off to the west by covered wagon, settling on the prairie of Kansas, in Indian territory.

My Thoughts: I *LOVED* this!! I am a huge LHP buff at heart, I had loved the Laura books as a child, and all the way through my teen years. I used to wish to have lived in that time period, even as a child. I loved the simplistic life style and wide open spaces depicted in the books that Laura wrote. This book, written from the perspective of Caroline, Laura’s mother is like LHP for adults. It comes from a mother’s perspective, in caring for, and worrying about, her children. As an adult and mother now, I completely appreciate her perspective and thoughts, as well as this book checking all those boxes that never were filled as a child…most all of those “how-dids” and “what-was-it-likes” questions I had as a child. This novel gives the grittier, more real look at what pioneer life was like, and I love this time period all the more, even now.

Book Review: Young Pioneers

Title: Young Pioneers
Author: Rose Wilder Lane
Genre: YA Historical Fiction
Released in: 1932
Pages: 175
My Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis: A young couple strike out for the west and for their own homestead. What they think will be an overly abundant harvest is destroyed, and David must return east for work and money, while Molly stays on the claim with the baby.

My Thoughts: I had an idea of what this was, and it was mostly correct. These characters and the family is different from the characters in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series, but a lot of the depictions and happenings are similar and seem to be pulled from Rose’s mother’s memories.

This couple sets out west, and settles into a dugout on the Plum Creek, sounding just like the one where Laura lived, only they just have the baby boy. They also mention the Swedish neighbors, and the grasshoppers. I feel like this book is pretty simplistic in it’s depictions, especially the first half stating what is happening versus showing us the experiences of the characters. But it’s done in such a way that romanticizes the westward movement of the time. The 2nd half really digs into the couple’s story and what they feel, and what happens while they are experiencing hardship.

This book really makes me wonder why Rose wrote this story though. There is some ponderings about who wrote this particular pioneer story first, Laura or Rose, and if Laura took Rose’s idea of the story and made it her own. I still enjoyed this single short novel though, I felt it was beautifully described.

Book Review: Little House on the Prairie

Title: Little House on the Prairie
Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder
Book in Series: 3 of 9
Genre: Children’s Classics
Released in: 1935
Pages: 335
My Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis: Laura, along with her Ma, Pa, and sisters Mary and baby Carrie travel from Minnesota westward, through Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas in their covered wagon, seeking Indian territory, hoping for first dibs in the land for settlers. She talks about the daily riding in the wagon, camping out on the open prairie, as well as homesteading, where her Pa builds a log cabin, and plows through the prairie grasses, and the Indians become upset about white settlers taking over their land.

My Thoughts: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read this book throughout my childhood! I LOVE the Little House series, and this was one of my favorites of all the books as a smaller child, wishing I could have been Laura, living in the simplicity of the wide open prairie. I’m sure there’s those out there who find issues in this book. I’ve heard somewhat recently that there are groups who state quite a few issues and racist(?) comments, but I feel this book is a product of the times, as I have grown up with it, I don’t notice these things. One of my favorite parts of this book was Laura’s describing how Pa made an oak door with latch and latch string!