On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Pages: 352
Published by HarperCollins
Publication Date January 7, 1994
Source: Bought
Genres: Young Adult
Goodreads
The adventures of Laura Ingalls and her family continue as they leave their little house on the prairie and travel in their covered wagon to Minnesota. Here they settle in a little house made of sod beside the banks of beautiful Plum Creek. Soon Pa builds a wonderful new little house with real glass windows and a hinged door. Laura and her sister Mary go to school, help with the chores, and fish in the creek. At night everyone listens to the merry music of Pa's fiddle. Misfortunes come in the form of a grasshopper plague and a terrible blizzard, but the pioneer family works hard together to overcome these troubles.
The whole book is a treasure really, but I particularly liked when Laura would go off to discover the inhabitants of Plum Creek, splashing her feet in the water, running up hills and encounters with water wild life.
Although my favorite was her class party at Plum Creek with snotty Nellie Olson. As a come back to Nellie’s rudeness, Laura coaxed her into the water only for Nellie to become covered with leeches and scream bloody murder. I should note that I have encountered bloodsuckers many times and a pinch of salt dries them right off.
People are always most comfortable with the familiar. For me, that is Walnut Grove. Due to the 1970s Little House television series, Walnut Grove is my comfort zone and what I most associate when thinking of Little House. Despite the fact that Laura proclaims in By the Shores of Silver Lake that she never wants to go back to Walnut Grove, I love the Mayberry feel of the town. I felt like there was always a helping hand when it was in need, such as the Ingalls’ neighbor watching out for the Ingalls girls when Pa was away, or patience when their wheat field was decimated by a savage, hungry plague of grasshoppers.There were also the townspeople, who made me reminisce with Michael Landon, Miss Beadle, Nellie Olson and Reverend Aldon. I feel like I’m rambling but nostalgia can do that to you.
I've never read anything by this author, but your posts are making me think that I might be missing out. Lovely thoughts. 🙂
Thank you, maybe its because I grew up with them, but I think the Little House books are great to read at any age.
I want to try this series with my son. I'm not sure how much he will like it, but it does have an awful lot of outdoorsy stuff!
Thanks for the reminder and I'm glad you enjoyed reading Wilder again. 🙂
I hope your son enjoys them! My younger brother (by 2 years) liked these books as well. Although, it could have been that whatever his big sister did/liked was awesome. My point being that there is something to love about Little House for any gender or age group.