Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Reading Little House in our Big House...


When I was a little toddler and my sisters quite young, Papa read through the series of The Little House on the Prairie Books. I don't quite remember it, but growing up, I've read through them a number of times. You can't ever grow tired of these books. The way Laura Ingalls writes and describes every little detail on a younger level is most entertaining. I don't think that even grown-ups could ever grow tired of hearing about the life and adventures of the little 'half-pint of sweet cider half drunk up'.

The most comforting parts in all the books are when Pa gets his fiddle down to play, with Ma sitting by the fireside knitting and the little girls tucked snug in their bed while the winter winds blow and howl outside. And Pa's fiddle sings...

"'Mid pleasures and palaces, though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."

This summer, ham'n'cheese had Little House on the Prairie on his summer reading list, so we decided to read the series as a family again. It's so comforting to sit as a family in our living room that Mama has made so beautiful and homey, while Papa reads aloud and you color or...

You should read them. Have you?

8 comments:

Nardo said...

I love this series! Especially the earlier books and Farmer Boy. I have read those books over and over and hope to accquire them for my own library soon.

Remember the part where they get the Christmas barrel? And when they all get sick with swamp fever? And the dance at Grandma and Grandpa's house with maple sugar candy? I always did want to try and make some.

Such memories...

Nardo said...

Is it just me or has Shades of Green changed its design?

rachel tsunami said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
rachel tsunami said...

i made monolog change it last night, nardo. it isn't finished yet, though. the other template gave me claustrophobia for some reason. and we weren't just wild about the literal shades of green.

come to think of it, that's just like us. analytical; alway's tweaking. so I suppose it was bound to happen.

monolog's going to be adding some color to this one over the next few days.

Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band said...

I actually have read a few, but that was long ago. Maybe I should pick them up again when I finish Ogden Nash.

rachel tsunami said...

hmmm. must've been the middle-of-the-night. did anybody else catch "alway's" in my comment above? ha.

el dorko, do read these books someday. they are a cultural icon in their own right. btw, i had Nash on my mind because you mentioned him on Sunday --- go catch up on fa's 'rhyming' post over at the beehive.

eugene, your expressions of love are entirely reciprocated. you're a sweetheart.
and come out from behind the shame; there's still lifetime left for reading Little House. (as far as we know. ;-))
i'd never read them either before ro-bear's first read-aloud when M&K were young.

Nardo said...

I remember when I was little, I would put on one of our box social dresses, complete with pantalons, cable knit hose, tie-up black boots, braids, and bonnet.
I'd go outside to the pasture and pretend to be Laura Ingalls or someone similar. I'd string up leaves, pretending that they were bundles of peppers, squash, and sausages.
I'd also try to make my own cornmeal by crushing acorns between rocks. Being out in the crisp fall air, surounded by brilliant colors and solitude, those were some of the best days of my childhood.

Cimmanim said...

i grew up on the little house books. =)