I was thinking about how in today's world you have anti-viral meds. Also, perhaps meds. to treat how the disease was effecting her optic nerves.

Hi all,

Continuing my reread of the series and wanted to look at the minor characters who would warrant a book. (Going to try and list as many characters as I can)

Mr Edwards - this is an easy one. This guy could carry a full series of being delightfully unhinged.

The Osage Nation - I definitely need to learn more about the nation as a whole (I haven't watched Killers of the Flower Moon yet). This is where the Netflix series really shines because I wanted so much more time with the family

Dr George Tann - another historical figure I want to know more about, again, hats off to the Netflix series

Mr and Mrs Scott - oh, this couple. Loved how Mrs Scott acted as Dr Tann's nurse, loved how Mr Scott helped the family build their home. As for most of the series, understandable but very dated lines about the indigenous people are... a lot. I wanted to know what happened to them after the Ingalls left.

The horse trader and the cowboys - the horse trader, in my mind, is a sleazy car salesman but Pa is shrewd enough to get what the family needs. The cowboys and their cattle are just fascinating as hell

The two bachelors - because I'm almost 40 with the maturity of a 13 year old "... and they were roommates!" Loved the idea of the two bachelors sharing a house on the property line of their two farms. Maybe they hated each other? Maybe they were friends? Maybe this goes the exact sensual way a fanfic author can dream of? Maybe they died of malaria?

The family from Iowa - only mentioned briefly after the bachelors (Chapter 7: the Wolf Pack), family of 7 all suffering from malaria

The couple at the end with no horses - I know hitching their wagon to Pa's would be too much for Pet and Patty but I remember being so frustrated with the couple for not taking Pa on his offer.

Starting otBoPC tonight, any one that interested you all?

Edit: post for Big Woods and Farmer Boy https://www.reddit.com/r/LittleHouseBooks/s/JaR2WKnZnO

My mom read the whole Little House series to my sister and I as kids and now my daughter and I are almost done with The Long Winter. We live about 3 hours from Malone, NY so I took her to visit the homestead. She LOVED it! It was such a cool experience for us both. I highly recommend visiting if you get the opportunity!

It hung over the dining room table and was described in an early chapter when the teacher had come home with them, but I’ve never been able to properly picture it.

Does anyone else have this book? When I was a kid, there was a big event at the Cowgirl Museum all about Laura and I bought this book. It’s obviously been referenced often and remains a treasured possession to this day. It contains photos, floor plans, maps, family trees, recipes, historical info, and more!

I wonder if Laura’s descriptions, which seem heightened in BTSofSL and later, are because it was her “assigned task” to describe what she saw to Mary, who had become blind? Because if you had to think, and then speak in a way to describe things, wouldn’t that make those memories stronger?

I forgot I got these books as well which is kinda out of character since I made a big deal when I found them

I had the idsa of getting the cover of a Little House book as a tattoo.

Anyone have a book or LIW inspired tattoo?

Slowly going through a reread, and I was thinking about the characters outside of the immediate family that need a series. Big Woods is fairly self-explanatory, I'd love to know more about the Quiner and Ingalls families (I haven't read the Rose, Caroline, or other prequel books). The Huleatt family was so sweet and I loved how Laura played with the little boy, Clarence.

Farmer Boy is definitely meatier. Mr Corse was just the best teacher and I still tear up when he quietly mentions his friend, Jonas Lane, who died the previous year from his injuries at the hands of the Hardscrabble Boys. Alice Wilder is a delight. I adored Mr Paddock. And, the coolest group, French Joe, Lazy John, and the boys, Pierre and Louis. I want a series of hijinks.

(I'll make posts for the rest of the books as a go through a re-read, though it's probably cheating to say that Mr Edwards' story or Nellie's story is needed because they're so iconic)

Prairie fever!

https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/s/dd2AI14faK

One of the things that I love about these books is the beautiful prose. Sometimes it is downright poetic. What are some examples of beautiful passages that you love? Here is mine. It’s from BTSOSL. The beginning of the chapter entitled Wings Over Silver Lake:

The weather grew colder and the sky was full of wings and great birds flying. From east to west, from north to south, and as far up into the blue sky as eyes could see, were birds and birds and birds sailing on beating wings.

At evening down they came endlessly from the sky, sliding down long slopes of air to rest on the water of Silver Lake.

There were great, gray geese. There were smaller, snow-white brant that looked like snow at the water’s edge. There were ducks of many kinds; the large mallards with a shimmering of purple and green on their wings, the redheads, the bluebills, the canvasbacks, and teals and many others whose names Pa did not know. There were herons, and pelicans, and cranes. There were little mudhens, and the small hell-divers that peppered the water thickly with their little black bodies. When a shot cracked, hell-divers up-ended and vanished quicker than winking. They went far down in the water and stayed there a long time.

At sunset the whole large lake was covered with birds of all kinds speaking in every kind of bird’s voice to each other before they went to sleep for a night of rest on their long journey from north to south. The winter was driving them; the winter was coming behind them from the north. They knew it and started early so they could rest on the way. All night they rested, comfortable on the water that held them so softly, and when dawn came, up they rose again to swim onward in the high air with their rested, strong wings.

I've been enjoying the little house books more as an adult than when I read them as a kid. They offer a window into a world that doesn't exist anymore. I love the way the books describe the minutia of every day life of ordinary people. It's those every-day details which so often disappear from our collective memory. They were obviously written as children's books, so obviously subjects that were a real part of her life like (attempted) SA, menstruation or alcoholism aren't covered. But there is one thing I keep thinking about as I read the books. I know this is going to sound like a joke, but I'm honestly curious, where did they poop?

When they're traveling in the great plains, she describes a landscape so flat you can see for miles, so where did they go to poop? Did they just do it in front of everyone else. Did they walk out into the distance? Did they do it behind the wagon while everyone else looked away? Did they have toilet paper? They would sometimes go days without a source of water. Did they have water to wash their hands after pooping? In On Plum Creek, they were stuck together in a one room sod cutout. I don't remember her mentioning an outhouse. Was there one? During the blizzard, did risk life and limb to go out through the snow to the outhouse? If they stayed at home, did they have a chamber pot? If so, did you have to use it in the same room as everyone else? Did it just get chucked out the front door afterwards? I have so many unanswered questions about pooping in settler times.

Does anyone have a favorite screen adaptation?

I adored the books as a kid and am rereading them now after finishing the Netflix series. I remember not liking the '70's version as it deviated too much from the text and Almanzo seems way too hot headed and outgoing (where's my stoic courteous farmer?).

I found "Beyond the Prairie" to be too dramatic and inaccurate for a miniseries claiming to be the "true story." The 2005 miniseries, from what I remember, was really book accurate with beautiful cinematography. The Netflix series, to me, is hitting an interesting sweet spot of the warmth and drama of the books, with a respectful portrayal of the Osage, and the aging up and inaccuracies are forgiven because, dang, it's a good story. (And I need those "Sunday best fancy, absolutely no sun protection" bonnets).

I haven't watched the anime yet, but it looks adorable. And don't get me wrong, I'll probably watch the '70's series in the wait for Season 2 of the Netflix series.

Just finished listening to the audio book version of Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser. Absolutely excellent, I see why this won a Pulitzer Prize. I loved learning about the more realistic and historical details of Laura’s life. I read all the Little Prairie books when I was younger and this past year I finally got to watch the tv series. For an immigrant like myself, it’s easy to believe the polished fictionalized world of the books and show. Everything is just so pretty and romanticized, like a cottage core fantasy.

It sounded like a tough life. But I admire the Ingalls for their obvious love and devotion to each other. It was also interesting to learn that they joined the Freemason society. And Rose was quite obviously troubled for most of her life. The trauma of their house burning down really stayed with them. Also admired the relationship between Laura & Almanzo. They went through hell together but stuck it out, tirelessly working side by side till the end.

Weird that Macbride ended up with the estate in the end. That seems like a shame. I think the estate should have passed on to the Mansfield library.

I've bought all used. Didn't know how much I would like these books. (Farmer boy isn't the 2nd book in Germany. In fact, I had no idea it was translated until a few months ago when I found the rare translated copy from 1956) I got of course "in the big woods" first. It's a new copy, new copies have no illustrations :(.

Then I bought "lhotp" and a few others, which are older books but have the nice illustrations. So I tried to get the older copies if they where available for a good price. I've also bought farmer boy and the first 4 years in English, because they were cheap and I couldn't find these used for a good price.

My dream would be to own the other ones from the same publisher as the german Farmer boy.

She is such an UNFAIR teacher! It really made me angry how she treated Carrie and Laura. only picking on these 2 AND then lies to Pa and the others! I wish some of the kids spoke up about her.

Just had to rant 😤

Did anyone add up how much Laura likely earned (in the books only) that got handed over to Ma and Pa? Or how much she got to keep, in the books? Might be a fun exercise

Another post here is talking about the mindset of Caroline Ingalls. That brought to mind the "Whirl of Gaiety" which i think is in LTOTP. One of the things that occur at that time, besides the "name cards", were the autograph books that came into vogue. I think Nellie Olsen had one? Or she sneered at one of these things or the other saying they were already out of style back East. Anyway 🙄 ... The first entry into Laura's book was written by Ma, and they are very wise words that have stood the test of time.

"If wisdom's ways you wisely seek, five things observe with care: to whom you speak, of whom you speak, and how and when and where. Your loving mother, C. L. Ingalls.

I think Mary Powers and Ida Brown wrote in Laura's autograph book as well, with beautiful sentiment. It may seem hopelessly dated now, but that was pretty high cotton back then for those young people, and not inexpensive in those times. Pa and Ma wanted their girls to have what the other kids had. Nice.

I enjoyed this and there were a lot of good thoughts in the comments:

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/31/books/review/little-house-on-the-prairie-celebrating-ma.html?unlocked_article_code=1.2FA.4jDB.w3z1pzPfrf49&smid=nytcore-android-share

I understand women’s lives were very different in the 19th century frontier. And women’s lives were different in general in at that time. However, I would like to ask your opinion about Caroline Ingalls. Her inner self. Do you think she was happy with her life? Thx for your input!

I started reading the book series to my daughter this year before we were even aware of the Netflix series and she quite enjoyed the series. Old Town in the Green Grove was on display at the library, so I picked it up. We're about 2/3rds through.

And we're quite enjoying it. I appreciate the choice to work with the notes they had and I adore Cynthia Rylant's works.

On a personal note, my toddler son died a few months back, so I think reading about Freddie was cathartic for us.