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These Happy Golden Years (Little House #8)
Fifteen-year-old Laura lives apart from her family for the first time, teaching school in a claim shanty twelve miles from home. She is very homesick, but keeps at it so that she can help pay for her sister Mary's tuition at the college for the blind. During school vacations Laura has fun with her singing lessons, going on sleigh rides, and best of all, helping Almanzo Wi
...more289 pages
Published
January 1st 1971
by Scholastic, Inc.
(first published 1943)
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Community Reviews
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Mar 15, 2013
Cheryl in CC NV
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
to-enjoy-again
Laura just wasn't as interesting to me once she grew up. Maybe if I'd have read it when I was a teen or young woman, rather than as a little girl, I'd've empathized more? Did any of you, who enjoyed the series, get much out of this one?
ETA: Otoh, West from Home: Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, San Francisco, 1915 and On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894 are now considered part of the series. I just read them last year and did enjoy them. I'm not...more
ETA: Otoh, West from Home: Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, San Francisco, 1915 and On the Way Home: The Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894 are now considered part of the series. I just read them last year and did enjoy them. I'm not...more
Ok so how could I not put my favorite LHOTP book on my bookshelf? I can't. There just ain't better readin' than a little LHOTP. Especially with a little fiddle music in the background while wearing a bonnet.
By far my favorite of the series! Laura embarks in her profession of teacher (at the ripe old age of 16). She experiences life away from home (and is fairly miserable but keeps a stiff upper lip) and learns how to deal with unruly students. She relishes in her weekends home and begins to appreciate Almanzo Wilder (who drives her home every weekend, even in terrible weather conditions). Throughout the book (and after Laura has moved back home for closer teaching positions), their romance blooms....more
Mar 20, 2008
Siobhan
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Particularly for girls and women
This book was the first of the Little House books that I read. The last shall be first. I liked it, and all the Little House books (my favorites are Little Town on the Prairie and The Long Winter). While I have to say that I enjoyed them as a child, that's nothing to what I thought of them when I reread them as an adult.
As a child, I loved the innocence of Laura's existence and her rebellious nature. Now, what comes through much more strongly is the constant danger that the Ingalls Family lived...more
As a child, I loved the innocence of Laura's existence and her rebellious nature. Now, what comes through much more strongly is the constant danger that the Ingalls Family lived...more
1
one of my favorite charecter was laura. she remind me onemof my family friend who is alike to laura.
laura was so kind with his family.she always think about other peole not for her. she was not selfish but she was very helpful.she understood his father financial condition and she helped his father.she did job as a teacher eventhough she has to leave from home because his sister mary was studied in college.she helped mary for study.also she take care about his mom housework.when she went to...more
one of my favorite charecter was laura. she remind me onemof my family friend who is alike to laura.
laura was so kind with his family.she always think about other peole not for her. she was not selfish but she was very helpful.she understood his father financial condition and she helped his father.she did job as a teacher eventhough she has to leave from home because his sister mary was studied in college.she helped mary for study.also she take care about his mom housework.when she went to...more
Laura's now almost an adult, 18 years old when the book concludes. She's got her teaching certificate and teaches 3 terms of school throughout this book, attending school herself on breaks between teaching terms. On weekends, Almanzo Wilder takes her for rides in his buggy, and she soon becomes engaged to him.
The developing friendship between Laura and Almanzo was sweet, even though they didn't share a lot of conversation. They were both quieter, and he seemed to be okay even when she spoke her...more
The developing friendship between Laura and Almanzo was sweet, even though they didn't share a lot of conversation. They were both quieter, and he seemed to be okay even when she spoke her...more
This book was an enjoyable read and a very interesting look into what life was like in the pioneer days of early America. It is part of a series of memoirs written by Laura Ingalls Wilder that ranges from her toddler years to the beginning of her adult life. This book focuses on Laura's late teen years as she leaves home for her first teaching job, begins "courting", and eventually gets married and moves into her first home.
An interesting feature of this book (and many others in the series) is...more
An interesting feature of this book (and many others in the series) is...more
Okay. By far my favorite book of the series. I love the odd courting rituals and how absolutely clueless Laura is. I really enjoyed the teaching that she did. I can't remember if it was in this book or the last (I'm reading them so quickly), but I really liked how she handles the unruly class. It was sad to see her leave the family because she really had done so much for them. And Pa was such a strength to her and to all of them. It seems like Almanzo is strong as well, so we'll see. I'm still c...more
Nov 12, 2012
Delicious Strawberry
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
laura-ingalls-wilder,
autobiography
In all of the previous Little House books, Laura was a little girl (except for the last couple of books when she was a teenager) but still, in all the previous books, she was very much a minor and under the care of her family, doing what Ma and Pa tell her and all of that. As she grows up, she becomes more independent as she takes on a school-teaching job, though she still lives with her family sometimes and shares strong bonds with them.
Back then there were no cars, phones, electric, and the li...more
Back then there were no cars, phones, electric, and the li...more
I finished this book with a lump in my throat, feeling sad for the end of Laura's childhood as well as the end of my own. I find it impossible to critique these books objectively because they are part of my childhood; I'm too close to them. So, I give them all 5 stars (except Farmer Boy, because I don't have the nostalgia factor with that one and can be a bit more objective).
These Happy Golden Years starts immediately where Little Town on the Prairie ends. Fifteen-year-old Laura has a job as a s...more
These Happy Golden Years starts immediately where Little Town on the Prairie ends. Fifteen-year-old Laura has a job as a s...more
I think this might be my favorite of the series. It is very distinct from the previous books. The earlier books focused on a much smaller set of time, usually about a year, while this book spanned 3 years. In earlier books there were many details about the settler life which always intrigued me. How to make brown sugar, how to build a sod home, how to turn prairie into farm land, how to build a whatnot, and so on. In this book these details are mostly missing. Instead Laura reveals a little more...more
This was the first series I ever remember really getting into. I was like, seven, and I thought that living in a cabin in the woods was the most exciting thing EVER. Most little girls played "House" or "Restaurant." My sister and I somehow merged the two into "Pioneer," only "Pioneer" had a healthy dash of imminent disaster, be it in the form of wildfire, panther, snowstorm, tornado, or general illness and famine. One of us had to play Laura and the other had to play Mary. We tried to be fair in...more
Is this my favorite Little House book? Perhaps. So hard to decide! It's certainly the most romantic.
Teaching is rough for Laura, but she's got to do it for Mary's sake. Although the rough part is the house where she's boarding. Thankfully Almanzo rides out in his sleigh every Friday to pick her up and take her home, as she'd otherwise have had a very hard time of it. She tells herself she's only going with him for the ride and even tells him that at one point. Luckily Almanzo ignores her protest...more
Teaching is rough for Laura, but she's got to do it for Mary's sake. Although the rough part is the house where she's boarding. Thankfully Almanzo rides out in his sleigh every Friday to pick her up and take her home, as she'd otherwise have had a very hard time of it. She tells herself she's only going with him for the ride and even tells him that at one point. Luckily Almanzo ignores her protest...more
This is the book wherein we read of Laura and Almanzo and their growing romance. Almanzo drives Laura back and forth (12 miles each way) to a 2-month school in a small settlement, and Laura is miserable in the position of teacher and boarder at the home of a seriously mentally-unstable woman. Second only to the discomfort of that situation is the fact that she's uncomfortable with the idea that perhaps the whispers of her students are true and that Almanzo really IS trying to be Laura's "beau."...more
Jan 26, 2011
Melissa
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction,
young-adult
I think this might be my favorite book of the Little House on the Prairie series. For those of you that haven't read the series, it is author Laura Ingalls Wilder's telling of her childhood and growing up as a pioneer. With her Ma, Pa, and sisters they travel and live from the big woods of Wisconsin, to Indian Territory, on to Minnesota, and then finally settle in the west in the town of DeSmet. They have many hardships, but ultimately pull together as a family and enjoy life.
This book starts wi...more
This book starts wi...more
This is the book I read the night before I got married ten years ago. The reason for this? I think that "These Happy Golden Years" is the first book that I ever read in which a courtship and marriage was described in any detail - I was probably 8 or 9 on first reading of it. It seemed eminently suitable to read before my own marriage.
The book makes me happy inside, the gentle way that Laura and Almanzo become a couple and go out on rides together. Almanzo's persistence in courting Laura, and the...more
The book makes me happy inside, the gentle way that Laura and Almanzo become a couple and go out on rides together. Almanzo's persistence in courting Laura, and the...more
These Happy Golden Years is the last "real" book in the Little House series. There is another, much shorter, book afterward (The First Four Years) that was published from Laura Ingalls Wilder's notes and outlines, but this is the last she wrote. It ranks a very close second in my most favorite books ever.
It's interesting that my favorite two books are the first and the last in the series. In the first, Laura is a child. 6 or 7 years old. In the last, she's a "grown up," around 18 years old. Ther...more
It's interesting that my favorite two books are the first and the last in the series. In the first, Laura is a child. 6 or 7 years old. In the last, she's a "grown up," around 18 years old. Ther...more
I really enjoyed reading this book even though it meant that Laura's story in the Little House books was almost over. I love how grown up Laura was in the book. Teaching school at 15, living away from Ma and Pa with the crazy Brewsters (please tell me what happened to the wife and the knife!) courting with Almanzo, learning to drive his wild horses, teaching more school. As a child it all seemed interesting to me, and as a grown up who is in the same profession as Laura (teaching, not taming hor...more
This book was so sweet! Laura's experiences as a schoolteacher are interesting, and as a young teacher with many older students I actually identified with her a lot. (Although I like teaching a good bit more than she does, that's for sure!) Almanzo proves himself to be a ridiculously patient and sweet man, and there are plenty of "awww!" moments to enjoy. I love that this series doesn't get old, because Laura's voice matures and changes as the volumes go by. There is always something more that L...more
I have read the Little House series a number of times now -- nearly always in the winter it seems; perhaps because so much of the books seems to take place when the family is struggling through blizzards and cold weather! Despite elements that make me occasionally cringe (in the first book, there's a song about an "old darkie"), and the conflicting emotions I feel when skimming quickly past these passages (these songs were real...the events were real...that is really what people were called back...more
For the very first moment my mom bought me the first book of Little House all those years ago, I just fell in love with Laura. Her persistence, her values, her sometimes rebellious nature, and her willingness to work hard (even doing manly jobs to help Pa).
I love this book because it describes how hard it is to cope with being away from family and friends, especially when it's so difficult to deal with the people in the work place. I'm living away from my family also since I was 18, so when I fe...more
I love this book because it describes how hard it is to cope with being away from family and friends, especially when it's so difficult to deal with the people in the work place. I'm living away from my family also since I was 18, so when I fe...more
De Smet, South Dakota 1882 (- 1885). Weihnachten ist vorbei und Laura tritt mit ihrer frisch erworbenen Lehrerlaubnis ihre erste Stelle als Lehrerin in einer 12 Meilen entfernten kleinen Siedlung an. Gestern noch ein Schulmädchen, jetzt Lehrerin für zwei Monate. Laura kann es selber kaum glauben, dass sie morgen nicht mit ihrer Schwester zur Schule gehen wird, zumal sie es hasst zu unterrichten und nicht wirklich weiß, wie sie es anfangen soll. Sie hatte noch nie unterrichtet, und sie ist gerade...more
I love all of Laura's books, but if I had to choose a favourite, it would probably be this one. It picks up exactly where "Little Town..." leaves off and describes Laura's life now that she's suddenly a grown-up school teacher. I couldn't imagine teaching school at an age where I still ought to GO to school! It's fascinating. And the courtship between her and Almanzo is just adorable. I always finish this book with a content sigh :)
The best part about reading a book from your childhood again as an adult, is the appreciation you can have for a novel to captivate a child, and often an adult as well.
This was not the case for Laura Ingalls Wilder's These Happy Golden Years.
I remember devouring these books, mainly because all the other girls in my class were reading them, and I wanted to know what they were about. Of the series, this had been my favorite one because of the budding romance between Laura and Almanzo.
This partic...more
This was not the case for Laura Ingalls Wilder's These Happy Golden Years.
I remember devouring these books, mainly because all the other girls in my class were reading them, and I wanted to know what they were about. Of the series, this had been my favorite one because of the budding romance between Laura and Almanzo.
This partic...more
i guess i read this one to keep going with the series, but it wasn't horrible bad. i guess.
Laura's growing up and learning that life isn't always going to be as cozy and comfortable as it was during her childhood (although even those years weren't all that easy!). Through her experiences as a new school teacher with an uncomfortable living arrangement, her sorrow at parting with her sister Mary when she goes away to a school for the blind, her school-day battles with the dreadful Nellie Olson, and the changes that occur among her group of friends, Laura begins to slowly mature into a...more
I loved this book. In it Laura teaches school, while still in school. Initially she teaches in a small school several hours from home, and is boarded with the Brewsters. Mrs. Brewster resents her and is also going prarie crazy, ala "Giants in the Earth". All the time, Almonzo Wilder attends to her, driving her through snow and cold on weekends as she teaches. It is lear he loves her, but she is very standoffish; still she can't stand to see Nellie Oleson flirt with him. Almonzo perservers and ev...more
Jul 04, 2011
Utami
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
from-my-childhood,
favorite
Honestly, I got my first impression of how a romantic relationship between grown-ups should be. And I read this when I was only 9 years old!
This book has been my favourite from the series, and I read it again and again that I lose track of how many times I read it.
This is also a book that has inspired me to be a teacher. Perjuangan Laura untuk mengajar di daerah yang begitu asing bagi dirinya, bagaimana dia harus berpisah dengan keluarga yang disayanginya. Suka duka Laura menghadapi murid-muridn...more
This book has been my favourite from the series, and I read it again and again that I lose track of how many times I read it.
This is also a book that has inspired me to be a teacher. Perjuangan Laura untuk mengajar di daerah yang begitu asing bagi dirinya, bagaimana dia harus berpisah dengan keluarga yang disayanginya. Suka duka Laura menghadapi murid-muridn...more
This is the last of the Newbery-winning Little House books and there’s only one more left. (Fortunately, it looks like Hallmark is going to start the series over in May, so yay!)
In this book, Laura starts teaching school (she got her certificate at the end of the last book) and starts dating. Almanzo drives 12 miles (in a horse and buggy—and that’s each way!) to pick her up so that she can see her family on the weekends. Laura’s kind of a jerk to him (she pretty much says that they’re only datin...more
In this book, Laura starts teaching school (she got her certificate at the end of the last book) and starts dating. Almanzo drives 12 miles (in a horse and buggy—and that’s each way!) to pick her up so that she can see her family on the weekends. Laura’s kind of a jerk to him (she pretty much says that they’re only datin...more
7) sometimes when we read, certain words or phrases or images stand out. maybe they are words or phrases that make an impression because of their sound, or maybe the meaning or image they make strikes us? sometimes we find words or expressions we just do not understand. share those that you have come across and describe why you listed them.
this book is amazing , i have already watched the movie when i was young several years ago.that was my favorite movie and i used to see it everyday during the...more
this book is amazing , i have already watched the movie when i was young several years ago.that was my favorite movie and i used to see it everyday during the...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Mary | 2 | 60 | May 04, 2013 10:23am |
Ingalls wrote a series of historical fiction books for children based on her childhood growing up in a pioneer family. She also wrote a regular newspaper column and kept a diary as an adult moving from South Dakota to Missouri, the latter of which has been published as a book.
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“These happy golden years are passing by, these happy golden years.”
—
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