Customer Reviews

The Little House Set

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I had to search a fair bit to find these books in a boxed set that included all 9 volumes, so this was a great find. The illustrations are the original ones and the books themselves, of course, are classics. The box itself is a little flimsy, not the strong corrugated cardboard that I owned as a little girl (in the '80s). My daughter (7) loved this gift though and it was a good value for the price (compared to buying separate volumes).

I have been reading these books since I could read and 25 years later, I still read them yearly and now read them to my children who are 2.5 and 4 months. My 2.5 year old son is always telling me how he loves Laura and I tell him that I do too.

Excellent, wonderful, classic, enduring and endearing; these books will never go out of style. We are now starting to read the other Little House books and just love everything to do with Laura and her family. I highly recommend them to anyone, young or old, male or female.

When I was a little girl in the 1970's I was a big fan of the Little House on The Prairie TV show and I was very happy when one Christmas, probably either 1974 or 1975 I received a boxset of the Little House book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder and I loved the books. I still have my books but no longer have the box they came in and the books have gotten a lot of wear and tear from many people reading them such as myself and with them being borrowed many times over the years by friends, cousins, my niece, etc but that just proves how well loved these books are. The set has 9 books which are all outstanding and are the true life stories and adventures of the real Ingalls family and written by Laura who wrote about her family, what life was like back in the mid to late 1800's etc and the books are Little House in the Big Woods, Little House on the Prairie, On The Banks of Plum Creek, By The Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, These Happy Golden Years which introduces Laura Ingall's husband to be, Almanzo Wilder, The First Four Years which details Laura and Almanzo's married life and their daughter Rose plus there is also Farmer boy. Most of the books detail The Ingall's family from their life in their homestate of Wisconsin to their journeys to Kansas, Oklahoma, Minnesota and finally The Dakota Territory which is where Laura met Almanzo but there is also the book Farmer Boy which Laura wrote about Almanzo's account of his childhood on a farm in New York state. These books are great and I highly recommend them to people of all ages, but I especially recommend buying the boxset!

Heroines: varied

Travel westward in a covered wagon with the Ingalls family and experience the joys of family reunions, the daily drudgery of feeding chickens and milking cows, and the terror of tornadoes, sudden blizzards which dump yards of snow around you, and "wild" Indians who appear at your doorstep.

What worked for me:

These books just thrilled me as a child and they thrill me still as I read them aloud to my own children now. I love watching their fascination at what a struggle it was to survive in the rugged American wilderness, and can't help but smile as they absorb their first history lesson in such a painless fashion.

Size-wise Laura Ingalls was described as being round like a French pony, but she really longed to be willowy with golden curls like her older sister Mary. From the very first book we hear how five year old Laura was so disappointed with her appearance and see how she always measured herself against her sister's paler beauty.

What didn't work for me:

The only disappointment I have had with this series is that the final book is so short and lacks the warmth of the earlier novels, probably because Mrs. Wilder passed away before it was rewritten.

Overall:

Fans of historical and juvenile literature should enjoy these books. (And fans of romance should enjoy the later books when Laura meets her husband.)

Note: The series was the basis of the popular television show, "Little House on the Prairie".

Warning: The story is sweet and easygoing, but also deals with the harsh realities of life in that era. It is less than "PC" at times because it accurately depicts the general attitude towards native Americans in those days. If you are planning to read this to a youngster, be prepared for possible questions on these matters.

If you liked the "Little House" series you might also enjoy the "Anne of Green Gables" series.

One of the biggest fallacies about the Little House books is that they are "girls' books." It was that perception of the books, as well as the sappy, smaltzy "Little House on the Prairie" TV show, that kept me from reading these books until I was in my early teens. One day just out of sheer boredom, I read my sister's worn copy of "Little House in the Big Woods." What a great book! A story of a family's survival in the wilderness with tales of bears, panthers, wolves, hunting, and all sorts of neat information on how pioneer people lived. "Little House in the Big Woods" erased my conception of the Little House books as "girlie stuff" and I promptly read the rest of the series.

Yes, some elements will appeal more to girls especially Mrs. Wilder's very detailed descriptions of women's clothing. (I generally just read what color the dress was and then skip over the rest of the description.) However, her stories about Indians, wild animals, blizzards, grasshopper storms, bandits, bullies threatening to beat up teachers, unruly students, unhinged farmwives, bossy older sisters, and a whole host of other great stuff will make these books fascinating to anyone interested in pioneer life regardless of gender.

Despite my age I still consider these among my favorite books. They are truly heartwarming classics with the magnificent illustrations of Garth Williams. Laura, the main character, will appeal to almost anyone- honest, principled, courageous, industrious, but with very human elements- including envy of her older sister and holding grudges, especially against snooty Nellie Oleson and her teacher (and future sister-in-law) Eliza Jane Wilder. The books are also a tribute to her father, Charles Ingalls, who emerges as a truly great man and father. A hard-working man upon whom fortune did not always smile, but always was able to remain unbowed regardless of misfortune. He was also a strict disciplinarian, who did not believe in sparing the rod, but also a truly loving father, who would do anything for his girls. Charles Ingalls, as seen through the eyes of his daughter, is a man worthy of any reader's respect.

For those who see images of Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert when they hear the words, "Little House," please give the books a chance. They are really nothing like the TV series. Although Laura Ingalls Wilder infused her books with a great deal of sentimentality- they never descend into the maudlin syrup that was the hallmark of the TV series. One example of how different they truly are would be how they represented how Mary, Laura's older sister, lost her eyesight. In "On the Shores of Silver Lake" Laura describes how scarlet fever robbed her sister of her sight, but also proudly describes how that tragedy never brought Mary to tears. Mary always remained "patient and brave." In contrast, the TV show has Mary wailing, moaning, and carrying on until her family ships her off to a school for the blind. (In the books, Mary does eventually go to a college for the blind, but only after years of being an important and valuable member of the family despite her disability.) Once again, the Little House series is a perfect example of the books being vastly superior to any TV or film conversion.

Everything we expected. We read these as children and have now bought them to read to our children. Great Classic.

This set is perfect! It has all of the Laura Years books and is very reasonably priced. Items arrived in perfect condition too.

These books are written beautifully by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I was enchanted with them when I was young and now as an adult I am still amazed. The books provide such insight into pioneer life in the late 1800's. The way Laura writes, makes you feel as if you are right there with her experiencing what she is. If you haven't read them yet, go for it! You won't be disappointed!!

I first read these books when I was in first grade. Since then, my copies have disintegrated because they've been read so often. As an English teacher, I'm online right now looking for a new set to use in the classroom. Of course, at 23, I still plan on reading them again myself first. This set is amazing - it combines history and great writing.

I love these books. I started first by watching the television series. Then a couple of years later my mother bought me the books. I am now 35 years old and I still love to read them. I love to read about how they made things and how they just managed to survive. I believe that they were was America was built on. Just think about if one of us was suddenly dropped back in time. Could we survive? After reading these wonderful books I would like to think that I had a chance.