Wilder, Laura Ingalls - Little House on the Prairie

[oyceter]

I read this around summer of last year and never quite got around to blogging it. I've read the Little House series before; they're among that small set of books that I read and imprinted on before I moved to Taiwan. It was interesting rereading; the language is simple and plain, and Wilder spends lots of time describing processes of the day-to-day. We get explanations of how Pa builds the cabin, how he makes the door, the floorboards, the chimney, the roof. How to peg things together without nails. How to make griddle cakes. How to stuff mattresses with hay.

I suspect these books are part of the reasons why I'm interested in cooking and crafts even now.

And while the attitudes are historical, particularly the vast disappointment everyone feels in the end, when the government gives the land back to the Native Americans, there's also a neat look at what Pa thinks of the Indians (people like him, with different customs) versus what Ma thinks of the Indians (terrifying).

It was a fun reread, and I'm still a bit tempted to reread the entire series. Particular favorites I remember are the long descriptions of food in Farmer Boy and Little Town on the Prairie, which I remember as being my favorite.