book data
6,850 ratings,
4.05
average rating, 173 reviews
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published
April 1st 2003
by HarperCollins Canada / Trophy Jr Pape
(first published 1939)
details
Paperback, 304 pages
characters
setting
De Smet, South Dakota
(United States)
literary awards
Newbery Honor (1940), Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (1939), Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice (1942)
isbn
0060522402
(isbn13: 9780060522407)
description
West again
The Ingalls family is heading west to the unsettled Dakota territory on the edge of the frontier. They will only have a few neighbors
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 8,001)
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avg 4.05
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
One of the things I love about this series is how the prose grows with the protagonist. Four-year-old Laura lives in a world with short sentences and simple feelings, and thirteen-year-old Laura, who has had to broaden her vocabulary to help describe things to her blind sister, inhabits a text that is intricately described and which gives a broader overview of events and situations.
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
Girls who would rather watch the railroad being built than sit inside sewing
What blows me away every time about all Laura Ingalls Wilder books is how she can put me right in the place of someone seeing the world change in extraordinary ways that have nothing to do with the 21st century. I am right there with Laura's fascination with the railroad and trains and crossing the continent to "settle" in the West where no one but buffalo and savages and their little papooses have lived before. The books are instructive in how the popular perception of Manifest Destin...more
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Read in March, 2009
This one begins so sadly, with two years since Plum Creek has ended, the famil sick with Scarlet Fever, and Mary now blind. I've always wished Laura had written about those years, as Baby Grace appears during that time, and apparently a baby brother was also born and died during that time. Clearly, it was a sad and diffucult time, but I find their fortitude inspiring and I wish there was more about that time.
Laura us much more grown up in this one-- I feel there is a separation between Pl...more
Laura us much more grown up in this one-- I feel there is a separation between Pl...more
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Read in January, 2009
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To me this book isn't as bright and cheerful as the first four books. Four years have gone by since the last book and Laura is 13 years old. Mary is blind from having scarlet fever and Grace has been born. Pa has the itch to move farther west and Ma wants it to be the last move so the girls can attend a school and have some consistency. They travel to the Dakota Territory where they hope to find a homestead to build their home . They are part of a group of people who establish the town of D...more
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Read in January, 2010
This is my least favourite of all the books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. It is an ok read but doesn't have the warmth and charm of the other books. Where are all the mouth-watering descriptions of food and little heartwarming tales?
It starts out on a depressing note with times being hard for the Ingalls family. Pa comes across as being quite selfish in this book as he forces yet another move on them all which you can see is very much against what Ma and Mary want to do. The rest ...more
It starts out on a depressing note with times being hard for the Ingalls family. Pa comes across as being quite selfish in this book as he forces yet another move on them all which you can see is very much against what Ma and Mary want to do. The rest ...more
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Read in September, 2009
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Read in August, 2009
I think this was my favorite book yet. You gotta love an economy where they can sell their place for the same amount as a horse. The book did start out pretty depressing. I cried when they talked about the dog dying. I was really amazed in this book at all the work that went into building the house and the railroad. It is also amazing how quickly everything went up.
The only thing I didn't like is the one place in this book where there were some racist remarks. I looked at my bo...more
The only thing I didn't like is the one place in this book where there were some racist remarks. I looked at my bo...more
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Read in January, 1999
I read all the Little House books to my daughter, Katrina over a period of a couple of years starting about the time she was n first grade. She is now in high school. I loved the Little House books and was sad when we got to the end. The reason I enjoyed these books so much was the shared time with my daughter, but also because I felt I got to know Ma, Pa and the rest of the family. I found myself looking up the actually history online, "visiting" sites on Google Earth and so on. ...more
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Read in August, 2009
I enjoyed this young adult novel from the famous book series. The writing style is very simple, almost Dick and Jane, but the story is so interesting that I devoured the book. The series was written when Wilder was old, so one is not sure how accurate the dialog in these books is, but I feel confident that the big picture, and most of the emotions, are true. I suspect that there was a lot more discomfort and even pain than these warm remembrances capture. Anyway, I was particularly interested...more
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Laura's now 13. She and her family have left Minnesota and have settled in the Dakota Territory. Sister Mary is blind at this point and Laura had to say good-bye to her dear dog Jack who passes away. Although it is never mentioned in the books, a son is born to Charles (Pa) and Caroline (Ma) around this time, Charles Frederick, but, he does not live long. Little sister Grace is introduced in this book. The family has settled near the town of DeSmet (where they will eventually move in a later boo...more
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Read in August, 2008
The previous Little House books are pretty happy, but this one starts the not so happy phase of Laura's life I think. Mary is now blind, Laura is starting to grow up and doesn't think she will ever leave De Smet. You know The Long Winter is coming just around the corner, so it is hard not to read this with just a little bit of dread.
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Read in August, 2009
The only problem is that now I want to read all nine books.
I think I found this book so sweet and touching because Wilder doesn't try to gussy up any of the scenes or dramatize the emotions. Most of it is written in a strict, almost journalistic, tone, and everything from angry mobs to the death of their dog is told matter-of-factly. It heightens rather than dampens the emotions, and makes you respect the narrator even more. Although obviously written as an adult, the young L...more
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Read in February, 2010
When I was younger, as much as I loved the Little House series, no matter how many times I started reading this book I could never finish it and continue the rest of the series. Reading it as an adult, I got bogged down at the same place but pressed on and was very glad I did. The section of the book where the Ingalls family takes the railroad and lives in the shanty town wasn't as interesting to me as anything from the previous books (perhaps a little too close to modern world for me?) but once...more
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Read in January, 2009
This is not my favorite of the Little House books. There are fewer engaging stories and more expository writing. But it is an important book because it is the one in which you learn that Mary has lost her sight. In this book Laura is presented as exiting childhood and becoming more adult-like. And, near the end, we hear very briefly of the "Wilder boys" and their claim. More of the return of Almanzo (the Farmer Boy) in the next book. As the others in this series, I read all these as a ...more
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Read in January, 2009
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Read in August, 2009
Very interesting to read this book with a scholarly eye, as opposed to just rereading it for pleasure. Issues of gender roles, acculturation and definitions of "civility" come into question in this book. Laura is obviously being groomed to fulfill her parents' aspirations for Mary, now that Mary is blind. Laura is forced into a role of maturity and responsibility that most teenagers today do not have. I love the entire "Little House" series, and it is always a treat to read a...more
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Read in January, 2009
Book five in the Little House series.
The Ingalls family is on the move again, as restless Pa settles them in the wilderness of the unsettled Dakota Territory. Pa works on the new railroad until he chooses a homestead claim on the shores of Silver Lake. The close-knit family spends a long, lonely winter in the surveyors' house while Pa builds the first building in town, which he hopes to sell for a profit when the settlers descend on the town. Pa promises Ma that their wanderings a...more
The Ingalls family is on the move again, as restless Pa settles them in the wilderness of the unsettled Dakota Territory. Pa works on the new railroad until he chooses a homestead claim on the shores of Silver Lake. The close-knit family spends a long, lonely winter in the surveyors' house while Pa builds the first building in town, which he hopes to sell for a profit when the settlers descend on the town. Pa promises Ma that their wanderings a...more
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bookshelves:
genre--historical-fiction,
intermediate--gr--3-6--ages-8---11-,
theme---survival,
wrp-ci546
Newbery Honor. This book is the next in the series following on the Banks of Plum Creek. In this book Laura is 13. The family is moving to the unsettled Dakota Territory.
I would use this book Social Science and writing. This book could be used for comparing and contrasting life in the praire to living in town. I would also use this for writing about moving to a new location, and if students would want to live in the 1800's.
I would use this book Social Science and writing. This book could be used for comparing and contrasting life in the praire to living in town. I would also use this for writing about moving to a new location, and if students would want to live in the 1800's.
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Read in January, 2001
In the “Little House the Prairie” Series, Laura Ingalls Wilder shares the story of her life, beginning in her early childhood and continuing through the early years of her married life. In “By the Shores of Silver Lake”, Laura tells of their life in Dakota Territory when her Pa was working for the railway construction there. This was my least favorite book of the series because it has a rougher theme than the others.
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