Good Books for Kids | YA and Kid Reviews Since 2006

This is the first of three books edited by Stephen W. Hines concerning and addressing Laura Ingails Wilder, the author of the Little House of the Prairie books. The books Wilder wrote numbered eight in total and were written when she was in her sixties. Many do not realize that before the now famous books were written that Mrs. Wilder was a journalist and wrote a column for The Missouri Ruralist for quite a number of years. This little book that is being reviewed here is a collection of her writings taken from that publication. All these articles were written near the turn of the last century.

I feel that a very good argument could be made that Laura Ingails Wilder was one of the most influential writers of the first half of the past century. Even if we discard the fact that one of the most popular television shows in history was based on her stories, we still are left with the fact that her eight books had a tremendous impact on the youth of this country during the time of their publication and far, far after. There are more than ten million copies of her books in print at this time with more being run off the press as each year passes. It would be quite difficult to find any school or library in this country that did not contain her work; indeed, it would be difficult to find many countries around the world that did not have them on their shelves. Thousands upon thousands of school children, year after year, cut their reading teeth on these eight little works. Ask just about any literate American who Laura Ingles is or was and they will be able to tell you. On the other hand, ask them to name five dead Russian authors, six dead English authors and twenty five French, and chances are slim if they can name half that many. Ask further what these literary greats actually wrote and I will promise you that you will receive a complete blank stare in the majority of cases. Go a step further and ask any of these people to give a brief outline of just one piece of the cumulative work of these "word giants," and you will get a double blank look. Not so with Wilder's work! Folks, this is influence! This collection of 35 short column offerings is an absolute gem. Wilder's simple and uncluttered syntax shines though and the reader is given a wonderful glimpse of what is to be created in the future.

This is a collection of advice given to young readers. It is simple and to the point, yet each piece flows wonderfully. What is so fascinating about each bit of advice given is that is absolutely timeless. The right thing to do, the way to treat people and the realistic observations recorded here apply to now just as much as they did in the early 1900s.

Even though these words were written well over 100 years ago, they are still quite readable. I note that many young people have difficulty reading the wonderful Anne of Green Gables series due to the style in which it was written, i.e. very, very post Victorian. Not so with these little bits! Yes, you will note a different in the flow and a difference in the structure of some sentences, but overall Mrs. Wilder setting at your kitchen table using the same word forms and patterns would not at all be out of place in the here and now!

I enjoyed this work, not only because I am a big Wilder fan, but also because the editor, Stephen W. Hines did not muck around with her words and bore us to tears with "insightful" pontifications of his own. He let her work stand on its own merits and trusted the reader to come to their own conclusions. I found that to be quite refreshing. This is almost a must read for Wilder fans. There are two more books in this series that I am into right now and they are just as well put together as this one is.

This work is appropriate for age group 10 through 100 plus!

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks