Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Little House Books: The Library of America Collection: (two-Volume Boxed Set)

Can find this same set of 9 books in paperback on Amazon for $7 less.

Books were received earlier than expected and in great condition. Would definately use them again.

This collection of Little House Books are ideal for the better second grade reader through fifth grade & possibly higher.The tales of early life are interesting & keep you moving through chapters to the next book. There are two or three books that can be bought in addition to this collection. My favorite set as a child, & now my daughter enjoys them as well.

I got "Little House in the Big Woods" when I was 7. I remember crying when I finished it because I wanted the story to go on and on. I pushed and prodded my Mom to get the rest of the books. As quickly as they appeared as birthday and Christmas presents, I devoured them. Almost 35 years later, I can say that I have read almost every book that has been written by or about Laura. Many other reviewers have pointed out the especially wonderful aspects of the books. The narrator ages as Laura grows up. (What a cool concept!) The story of 4 year old Laura's Christmas in Wisconsin is as real and moving as the description of 18 year old Laura falling in love with Almanzo in Dakota Territory. The images are always fresh, and the stories always epitomize wholesomeness. There is a consistency all the way through "These Happy Golden Years" that shows that great care and skill were employed to make the series unwaveringly good. The real life of Laura was strenuous and uncertain. She was poor most of her young life. She and Almanzo faced great loss and always worked very hard to run their farm. The many moves made by the Ingalls and Wilder families were made to escape difficulties like failed crops or to improve bad situations like poor health. According to available accounts, Laura did not stay in close contact with her family after she left Dakota. Her relationship with Almanzo does not seem to have been remarkable, and her relationship with her only child, Rose, was strained. However, all of these mundane details coalesced to create some of the best books ever written. Many readers do not know that Rose was the impetus for the Little House phenomenon. She became a writer first, and she saw how she could help her mother to take the story of her life and turn it into beautiful literature. There is controversy about how much Rose helped. Some say that she was a full fledged ghost writer. In any case, it is safe to say that the Little House series was a mother/daughter collaborative effort. A talented mother and daughter turned the memories of a difficult, pioneering life into books that I could not put down. I read and re-read them until they became part of my life experience. I know that I am one of many for whom the experience made me love reading more, made me wonder more about how other people in other times lived, made me see how good people lived in the world, and made me more alive in some way. I cannot say enough good things about these books. Every child should read them, and every adult should read them again!

I received my Little House box set MANY, MANY years ago for Christmas, and it sat on my shelf, a treasure waiting to be fully discovered, for the better part of 2 decades. As an English major, I've spent many hours with Shakespeare, Jane Austen, the Brontes, Edith Wharton, and scores of other wonderful writers. Then one day, my best friend told me that she was reading "Little House in the Big Woods" to her 1st grade class, and that, to a child, boys and girls alike were mezmerized during story time - she'd never seen them pay such good attention. That was all it took. One Sunday morning, I walked up to the attic, and brought down my set. Since then, I've read straight through them, often into the wee hours of the morning. The writing is outstanding (it actually becomes more grown up right along with the characters), and of course the love story is beautiful, but this series has much more to offer its readers - young and old. For one, you get a much deeper sense of how generations before us struggled, toiled really, to make this country what it is today. And the sense of family is amazing, particularly as Laura becomes old enough to live away from home and realize just how wonderful her family is.Every child should read them. Better yet, every family should read them aloud, together. I certainly plan to read them aloud to my kids.

I always wanted to read these books, but I never did as a child. I am now 27 and I am totally enthralled by this series. I have always been an avid watcher of the TV series, but I feel you get a more intimate look at Laura and the Ingalls through the novel. I enjoy how the descriptions in the stories actually make you feel like your are traveling with the Ingalls. Whether you are 8 or 88 these books help you understand the beginning of our nation. They remind you of what family, loyalty, respect, and responsiblity mean. I can not wait to share these with my nieces and someday my children. What a wonderful way to spend time, traveling on a voyage with Laura Ingalls Wilder.