Little House on the Prairie - Laura Ingalls Wilder

No surprise, but this book is excellent. As with Little House In the Big Woods, I am just amazed by what people could do with thier bare hands and a little wit in those days. Pa building a house almost single handedly has got to be the most amazing feat.

Also as with Big Woods, there is a lot more going on in this book than I ever picked up when I read these at age 7. The relationship the family has with the Natives is very interesting. Ma and some of the neighbors view them as beneath respect. But Pa has a deep respect for them, while at the same time feeling the need to protect his family.

I also thought a lot this time about how lonely it must have been to be in the middle of the wide flat prairie, your nearest neighbor miles away. But also how close this would have made you be to your family. I grew up at times in locations far from town, and it is a very healthy, but often lonesome, experience.

Finally, Pa and Ma moved to the Prairie because the Big Woods were getting crowded. I wonder what they would have thought of the development I live in, with houses 10 feet apart?