First Pages: Little House in the Big Woods
First Pages/First Lines of Little House in the Big Woods: I know you want to say 'on the prairie' instead, but it all really started in a little house in the woods. I just adored this series when I was younger. I read through them so quickly that we'd have to go back to the library for the next one and then the next one.
Similarly, when my SIL, J, gifted Mini Me with this very copy of the Little House in the Big Woods, I had to buy or borrow the next ones pretty quickly. In fact, she read them out of order <gasp> because we just had to accept what was at the library at the time.
Pro tip: when buying a Bookworm the first book in a series that you loved, you may just have to buy the whole series!
I haven't touched these books since I was a kid, and when I picked up Big Woods to do this post, I was not disappointed. I love when the setting is like another character in the book, and Laura Ingalls Wilder definitely immerses us in the setting right away. I'm transported to this little house and this remarkable family, who are out there surviving and surviving beautifully.
In fact, I'm very nervous for the Ingalls family even as they ready themselves for winter. The first few pages of this book and series draws you in immediately to the Ingalls' life.
When I was growing up, the television series was being aired. I'm not sure if watching the show shifted my view points, but I still remember many enjoyable hours reading and re-reading each book.
I think it may be time to introduce this series to Little Lion. Both my girls are big fantasy/sci-fi fans, but this type of memoir fiction may be a nice bit of variety to Little Lion's reading. I think the 'hook' to this series is how all the details make us feel like we are in the same time period, reliving it with Laura.
Side note: Yes, I planted the book next to the woodsiness of my husband's vegetable garden above. Chard counts as woods, right?
Other side note: Perhaps because I've been steadily reading Hunger Games fanfiction ever since I re-read the trilogy a few months ago, I really am digging learning about surviving in the woods/prairie along with Laura. My re-read of THG was triggered by reviewing the first book for this First Pages series. I started this First Pages series during National Novel Writing Month as a way of studying what makes some favorite books so successful.
Tell Dr. Bookworm!
Last month, I went over the First Pages/Lines of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, another favorite childhood series. So I'll ask a similar question: Do you have fond memories of reading a certain book series as a child? Which series and why? Let me know in the comments.
