Children’s Book Review: “Little House on the Prairie” by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1935)

This namesake book to the whole TV series surprised me, because it takes place in Kansas! I know all about the Laura Ingalls Museum in Minnesota, and I’ve been to all the towns they name in the show, like Walnut Grove and Mankato. But I never knew that “the Prairie” was in Kansas. Did you?

I’ve been reading through these books with my children, and I was shocked at how well the 7- and 9-year-olds took to the first book, Little House in the Big Woods. The whole collection is sitting on my bookshelf right now, and I can’t see either of them losing interest anytime soon. Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote such fascinating anecdotes about her life growing up in the pioneering years of American history, and every single chapter so far has included teaching moments that have opened up a number of great conversations with my kids. We’re loving these books, and now of course we’re getting into the 1970s TV show as well.

This particular book follows the Ingalls family as they leave Wisconsin in order to lay down some roots in “Indian Country” on the prairies of Kansas. Apparently the US government had offered farming land to any white settlers who wanted it, and Charles Ingalls dove at the chance. We get to watch them search for the best property, build a log cabin by hand, labor hard for their own cows and plow, work the land, meet their neighbors, interact with the Native Americans, and eventually get told by the government that they’ve got to leave it all behind. It’s a fantastic history of daily life in the mid-1800s, and every parent would do well to introduce it to their kids.

Now, I get it. There are folks in the US now who would like to outlaw these books for how they portray the native peoples, calling them savages and worse. But as I noted in a recent post, Daniel Boone: Wilderness Scout, these sentiments were real, not commendable. The books and tales are historical, not maps for how we should think. These books offer teaching moments for our children and nutrition for their little minds, far unlike the trashy and brainless cartoon books or the social-propaganda films and shows of this most recent decade.

To help trace the discussions related to Indian hatred in this book, I’ll note the most pertinent passages. Ma especially seems to be the first source of bigotry in the family. She first mentions her strong dislike of Indians on page 46, when responding quite negatively to Laura’s desire to see a papoose. Then when their neighbor, Mrs. Scott visits, Laura hears some more nasty talk against them. “Land knows they’d never do anything with this country themselves. All they do is roam around over it like wild animals. Treaties or no treaties, the land belongs to folks that’ll farm it. That’s only common sense and justice” (211). Her husband, Mr. Scott, later offers what I can only imagine is the worst line in the whole series: “The only good Indian is a dead Indian” (284), but thankfully none of these  sentiments finds roots in Laura’s thinking.

In the final chapters, the terrified family listens to Indian war-cries night after night, awaiting what could only be some form of violent attack. But then they see a lone Indian  enter the river valley where all the tribes had gathered, and they recognize him as the same man who had once visited their house, a kind chief who gave them gifts rather than steal their food. Soldat du Chene has entered the Indian gathering in order to stop the tribes from attacking the white settlers, risking his own neck and the lives of his tribesmen. Pa responds to this great act of kindness as he watches du Chene ride off with all the rest: “That’s one good Indian!” Pa says. Then Laura adds, “No matter what Mr. Scott said, Pa did not believe that the only good Indian was a dead Indian” (300). And she didn’t either.

Any thoughtful reader can learn from these books, and their age needn’t matter. I’m enjoying them as much as my kids are, as we plow through at least two chapters per night, and we’re especially happy to watch the show now too. The original movie that started the TV series covers the events in this book, so look it up if you have time. It’s so much better than watching the news.

©2020 E.T.