Little House in the Ozarks

Rating:
Summary: Thank you Hines!
Review: As a fan of the Little House books, I've read Laura's stories many times. But before she wrote them, she wrote for the newspapers about farm life. This gives such an exciting peak at her adult life, her "what happened next" years, that any true fan should read it.

Rating:
Summary: Timeless articles
Review: This is a collection of newspaper articles Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about life in the Ozarks. Many of the articles are full insights into life that still apply today. She wrote about farmer's wives being equal in importance to their husbands, the frustration of dealing with "new technology" (in her case a new washing machine), and many other day to day activities on the farm.

Rating:
Summary: What happened when Laura grew up?
Review: Well, first her and Almonzo moved away from their home to Florida on doctor's orders for Almonzo. The climate was too
cold. Then the heat of Florida caused Laura's health to suffer so they had to find a "happy medium" climate and they set off with their horses and buggy (and little Rose) to find a new home. They ended up in Missouri and were happy there the rest of their lives on their farm named Rocky Ridge.

However, this book doesn't tell that story. It only mentions parts of it in passing. This is a collection
of newspaper articles written by Laura when she was an old married woman with her child already grown and moved on. It covers about eight years. The last article in the book mentions that Ma passed away. The kids were very bored by it as any kid would be reading a newspaper article and I had to stop reading it to them. I enjoyed it very much as I felt like I really got to know Laura this year through reading her entire series.

This book teaches Many, Many things about how to live
a farm life. One of the most interesting things was how to make a refrigerator for milk and butter without electricity or ice. There are many amusing stories about the different families and people that lived around the Wilder's. For example: one day there was hail the size of golf balls and a neighbor went out his front door to get one and bring it in the house to show everybody. Well, no sooner does he get out but one hits him on the head and knocks him out cold. His family had to drag him by the feet back in the front door. (he was O.K.) There are stories about children and parents and farm hands and for all the stories the purpose is for Laura to give her opinions and philosophies. Do you remember that time when Laura and Mary were little and Laura got a bad spanking for slapping Mary? Well, to this day (in the book) she still feels she was unjustly punished and I found that very interesting.

If you have read all the other books as I have, then you know how she was raised. Now is your chance to see what kind of a grown-up she turned out to be. Each article is only a page or two so you don't have to read it all at once to finish a subject. Yet the book is long (315 pages) so there is plenty to read and enjoy to your heart's content.