Each chapter is a self-contained story about the Ingalls family, so it could be read aloud to young readers or would not be too challenging for those new to chapter books. This first installment in the series is gentler than the rest and so could reach a slightly younger audience. And the notion that children should be seen and not heard is laughable these days. The story begins in 1871 with the Ingalls family living in the big woods of Wisconsin. Later editions featured new drawings by Garth Williams. It was published in 1932 by Harper & Brothers and illustrated by Helen Sewell. There are moments, though, when the writing reflects too well 19th-century ideas about gender and race (mentions of "darkey" and "Injun," for example). Little House in the Big Woods is the first book in the Little House book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Some of the most interesting scenes are when young Laura describes the long process of making food, such as cheese and bread, that we take for granted, along with our ability to store meat in refrigerators. It's warmly crafted with characters who come to life and lots of details about frontier life, based on the author's own childhood in Pepin, Wisconsin, in the early 1870s. Parents need to know that there's a reason Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Big Woods is a beloved classic.
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