Between These Pages

By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Pa is again restless.  They’ve been two more years by Plum Creek and the crops are weak and the animals are scarce.  Pa wants a place where the hunting is better.  They travel to the Dakota Territory, mostly by train (which travels at a whopping 20 mph!)

Pa has gone ahead to work for the railroad and the Ingalls women must travel out to meet him.  After the excitement of the journey, the next few chapters are a little slower, with lots of information on the railroad and western expansion.  My favorite parts of the book are once the railroad camps have broken up and the family is wintering at the surveyors house.  But in By the Shores of Silver Lake, they are never anywhere for very long.  They’ll live in two more houses before the end of the book.

This is the first book where you get a sense of how rough and dangerous things were in the early days of the west (I’m not counting the disputes with the Indians which is a whole different kettle of fish).  There’s a lot more violence in this book than in the ones prior.

Of note:  At the very end of the book Laura gets her first glimpse of Almanzo Wilder (and more importantly his beautiful horses).  It’s nothing more than a mention, but it’s there.

Racism Laura’s cousins “yell like Indians.” After Laura rides bareback Ma says she doesn’t know when she’s seen Laura look so much like a wild Indian.  A man is referred to as a half-breed. The half-breed is implicated in horse thievery.  Ma says you can’t trust a half-breed.  Pa says they would have been scalped on the Verdigris River if it hadn’t been for a full-breed.  Ma says they wouldn’t have had to worry about scalping if it weren’t for the “howling savages.”
Sex, Nudity, Dating – Baby Grace appears as if by magic.  No worries about TMI on that front. Laura and her cousin Lena sing a song about marrying a railroad man.  They also sing a song about a pretty maid and a man who refuses to marry her.  Some of Pa’s songs are about courting and marriage as well. A girl is married at age 13.  Lena and Laura discuss how they are just about the same age as that girl and how they’d rather not have that much responsibility yet.  You have to really read between the lines, but Ma subtly requests that Pa warn the girls about the railroad men.  I can’t imagine children would assume the warning belongs in this category at all, but an adult might realize that at least in part, it does. Mr. Boast met Mrs. Boast when he was 21 and she was 17.
Profanity – “darned,” the girls are warned that the railroad men use rough language. Laura overhears and recognizes rough language which includes swear and words she’s never heard before. “hell-divers” which seems to be a type of bird and not an intended profanity. “shut up,”
Death, Violence and Gore – Jack, the dog, dies of old age.  Riders carrying pistols follow the wagon.  People are planning on shooting Big Jerry on suspicion of stealing horses. Pa now has a rifle, a shotgun and a revolver.  Laura knows that Ma knows how to use them too, if she has to protect something.  A mob of men try to intimidate Pa.  A group of men string up the paymaster.  He is badly injured.  Pa describes the men lowering the noose. A man hits another man over the head and he doesn’t regain consciousness.  Many men carry guns, but not for hunting. Pa accidentally kills a swan.  Pa sings a song about a girl begging to be let in or else her child will die.  Some of his songs are about people who have died.  There’s an illustration of Pa with a gun holding a dead bunny.  There is a fair amount of fighting and brawling.  In one of the final chapters, there is a murder.  A claim jumper shoots a man.  Pa says that hanging is too good for the murderer.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Railroad men drink behave badly when they are drunk.  A group of men sheltering at the Ingalls house brings a jug of whiskey, gets drunk and fights.
Frightening or Intense Things – Everyone has Scarlet Fever and Mary is now blind. This happens within the first two pages of the book, so it’s not a huge spoiler.  Mary also had to have her head shaved.  There’s a frequent threat of robbery in the railroad camps – men stealing horses, robbing each other, stealing from the paymaster.  There is a riot at another camp.  An old man has consumption.  Laura and Carrie end up close to a wolf outside, but run back to safety.

On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Now in Minnesota, the Ingalls family once again tries to get back on their feet.  Although there’s not much game here for hunting, Pa hopes the wheat crop will bring in enough money to make their dreams come true.  Despite never wanting to owe anyone, he repeatedly borrows against the coming crop, building the fanciest house they’ve had yet.  Their new home is within walking distance of town which means that Laura and Mary attend school for the first time, and meet the infamous Nellie Oleson.

If you’d been harboring any romantic images about the life of a farmer after reading Farmer Boy, now is the time for disillusionment.  Between grasshopper plagues and dangerous blizzards, the Ingalls family has a tough time of it, despite the fancy house.

Nellie Oleson is every bit the spoiled brat I remember her to be, but she isn’t in the book all that much, which may be surprising more to adults who remember her well (maybe influenced by the television show) than it will be to young readers.

Between the floods, grasshoppers, blizzards and the appearance of more characters outside the Ingalls family, this book was a much faster and enjoyable read than Little House on the Prairie.

For those enamored of the Ingalls family’s Christmas celebrations, this book includes two. The first of which is a bit of a non-Christmas as Ma delivers a lecture on how Santa is many men (definitely worth skimming before you read with your own children, particularly if they’re still deep in the Santa myth themselves) and the girls pass up gifts of their own so that Pa can get horses.  (Foreshadowing:  Laura instantly falls in love with the horses.)  The second Christmas involves a church visit in which the family receives charity.
Racism – A man’s face is described as “red as an Indian’s.”  The ponies are described as “Indian ponies” and this is the explanation of why they would rather roam out west than plow.  Ma comments that there are no “wolves or Indians howling” and she hasn’t felt so peaceful in a long time.  The Ingalls family lives near Norwegians and make some jokes about how they pronounce English words.  Mary warns Laura that if she doesn’t put her bonnet on she’ll be “brown as an Indian.” Laura says she wishes she were an Indian and didn’t have to wear clothes.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – Pa sings a song with the lyrics “Charley likes to kiss the girls/And he can do it handy.”
Profanity – “shut up,” “darned,”
Death, Violence and Gore – Laura is bitten by leeches. Naughty children get hit by the teacher’s ruler.  Nellie Oleson grabs Laura’s hair and pulls her to the ground. Laura nearly slaps Nellie.  Pa travels for awhile and they do not receive word.  The girls worry that a train hit him or wolves got him or a panther had leapt on him. Pa tells about children that were left in their house when their parents went to town.  A blizzard came up and the children froze to death before their parents returned. These children who “froze stark stiff” are mentioned several times as the Ingalls children find themselves home alone during multiple blizzards.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Pa smokes a pipe.  He buys tobacco for it.
Frightening or Intense Things – Laura has a few close calls with drowning.  Laura pokes a badger with a stick and it snarls at her.  There are a lot of animals (cattle usually) that are running very quickly and dangerously.  There is a grasshopper plague.  There is a drought. Tumbleweeds catch fire and wheels of fire roll across the prairie

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

If my memory serves correctly, this is the book in the Little House series with the most racism.  And there is good reason for that.  The Ingalls family relocates from their home in Wisconsin to land that belongs to the Indians.  The US government has said that they will be opening up the Indian Territories (in what is now Kansas) for settlers.  The Ingalls family wants to have their pick of the land there.  So they leave crowded Wisconsin for Kansas.  Because they are entering Indian Territory, it’s only natural that there should be some tension between the white settlers and those who are already living in the prairies. But Little House on the Prairie doesn’t just reflect concern and confusion.  It shows true fear, hatred and prejudice.  While Ma stands out as anti-Indian, certainly most of the characters have their moments where their bias shows.  In the end, the Ingalls family decides to move on from Kansas.  The government was on the verge of sending soldiers to escort white settlers from the lands.  From a historical perspective, this back and forth on the part of the government is fascinating, but you can see (even with the limited information in this book) how their policies bred tension between whites and Native peoples rather than diffusing it.

Knowing the content of this book, what should you do?  Should you skip the anti-Indian sentiment?  Address it?  Well, I think those choices depend on the age of your readers/listeners, their maturity and your personal philosophy.  In all honesty, completely editing this book will be a major undertaking if you’re reading aloud.  To the point where you’ll be reconstructing the plot to try to make it make sense.  I mean, you can do it if you have your heart set on it, but it will not be an easy task.  In most cases it will be easier to have frank discussions with your children about the attitudes expressed in the book.  Older children who are reading independently will often pick up on what’s going on even without your help.  During one reading conference I asked a student about the characters and the first thing out of his mouth was “Ma is really racist against Indians”.  I think Ma’s feelings are the some of the easiest to call out as racist.  The other characters (Pa and Laura especially) tend to be more tempered, yet still have their moments.  This will be harder to tease out for some readers.

How can you address the issues of prejudice in this book?

• You can discuss the historical background.  Many children now notice the inherent unfairness of Manifest Destiny and how the government treated Native Americans.
• Talk about how prejudice occurs when people have limited experience with people that they perceive as different.
• Talk about the role violence played in people’s opinions (there were very real reasons for settlers to be afraid of Native Americans, but what is the underlying cause of these massacres and raids?).

Aside from the interesting historical context and the racist context, this still isn’t one of my favorites in the series.  Little House on the Prairie gets off to a bit of a slow start. The trip from Wisconsin has some exciting parts, but is largely tedious, and much like Laura, I can’t help wishing we’d just get to the new place and settle in already.  The rest of the book alternates between fairly dry (filling mattresses, splitting logs) and dangerously exciting (warring Indians, fever, prairie fire).

Racism – As mentioned previously, the Ingalls family has lots of contact with Native Americans.  Throughout the book they are described as “brown”, “red men”, “wild,” “savage,” “terrible.” Their eyes are compared to “snake eyes.” They are stereotyped as sneaky, thieving and suspicious.  Ma says she expects they’ll see more Indians than they want to.  She tells Laura and Mary that she doesn’t like Indians, but doesn’t give an answer when they ask why.  Laura also asks why they are moving to where the Indians live if Ma doesn’t like them.  Pa tells Laura that you don’t see Indians unless they wanted you to see them.  Laura knows they are “wild men with red skins”.  Laura compares wild men to wild animals and papooses with fawns and other baby animals. Pa sings about being a Gypsy king.   Ma asks Laura why she must yell like an Indian and tells the girls they look like Indians because their skin is turning brown in the sun.  Ma wonders why Laura wants to see a papoose.  Indians come to the house.  Their eyes are described as glittering like snake eyes.  Laura feels strange and her legs feel weak because they are near.  The Indians are further described as “naked wild men” and Laura mentions smelling a horrible smell (this is because the skins worn by the Indians are skunk skins evidently). A neighbor gives quite a speech on Indians, saying how they would never make anything of the land themselves, that they just roam like wild animals, and of course, that the only good Indian is a dead Indian (this last statement is repeated several times).  She starts to discuss a massacre, but Ma hushes her. Ma claims that the dog hates Indians and that there are so many in the area that she can’t look up without seeing one.   Pa says that one Indian was “no common trash.”  Indians come into the house.  They are “dirty, scowling and mean”.  Laura does repeatedly question why the government makes the Indians move west and whether or not the Indians will be mad that they have to move.  When Ma hears a scream in the night she says “you don’t suppose…”  It will probably not occur to younger readers that she is thinking of an Indian raid, but it may to more experienced ones. At one point Ma expresses the hope that the Indians will fight each other. Laura wishes to be an Indian child “except she did not really mean it.” Laura asks Pa to get her an Indian baby and claims it wants to stay with her. A doctor is described as a “black man” and Laura says she would have been afraid of him if she didn’t like him so much.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – “blasted,” “darned,” “durned”,
Death, Violence and Gore – Pa has a gun and bullets.  Shots ring out in the woods.  Pa drops a giant log on Ma’s foot.  It’s not broken but her face is gray with the pain.  The swollen ankle is described vividly. Pa shot a rabbit through the eye and shot the heads of the prairie hens off.  Pa tells the girls that if Jack had bitten the Indians they would have killed him and “that’s not all.”  Laura asks Pa about a panther he has escaped and she asks if it would carry off a little girl.  Pa tells her that a panther would kill and eat a little girl.  Laura later speculates that a panther would kill and eat a papoose too. Pa hits the dog. Pa says that hanging is too good for horse thieves.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Mr. Edwards spits tobacco juice.  The Indians take all of Pa’s tobacco.
Frightening or Intense Things – In crossing a creek, the water rises suddenly and the wagon nearly capsizes.  Jack the dog goes missing in this incident. A family is very sick with fever and ague.  Pa ends up near a pack of wolves.  At night they surround the house. The girls are told not to play with snakes because some are poison. A man faints while at the bottom of a well.  Everyone gets very sick.  There is a fire in the house.  Later there is a prairie fire.

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Of all the books in the Little House series, this is the one I’ve read the most often.  Many of you already know that I am a purist about starting a series at the beginning, so when I introduce the world of Little House to students, this is where I begin.  This series never held a place in my heart the way the Betsy-Tacy books did, but it’s still an important one that many adults remember fondly from childhood.  I’ve read Little House in the Big Woods aloud to first graders (who loved it!) and used it for Guided Reading lessons with third graders.  Interesting side note:  in all the years I taught Little House, many students continued with the series.  But only boys finished it.  There’s really a lot of fabulous frontier and pioneer stuff once you get past the fact that the main characters are female.

Interrupting this post to call attention to the comments where I was called out for my incredibly poor phrasing.  I did not at the time of the post, nor have I ever believed that books with female characters are something a reader needs to “get past”.  I do believe that by third grade, many boys have already been conditioned to believe that they will not enjoy a book with female characters or have experienced a situation that makes them believe they will somehow be thought less of for liking something that is perceived as girly.  In my conversations with boys about this series, I never once told them that they would like it in spite of the female characters.  I told them about the adventures and the pioneer life.  I chose not to edit this post to remove my poor wording because I felt the ensuing discussion had value and also to highlight how even people who consciously make an effort to not stigmatize gender in books can have momentary lapses.  And that this is something that should make us even more vigilant and careful when selecting our words.

This first book is set in the woods of Wisconsin and focuses largely on the small details of everyday life, especially the food.  But readers’ favorite parts usually include Pa’s stories and the few times the Ingalls family manages to get together with family, at Christmas and for a dance during the sugar snow.

Racism – Pa sings a song about an “old darkey”.  When I read the book aloud, I usually skip the song, but when working with independent readers, it’s important to address the language and tone of the song.  The best question I ever had from a student about this section was “Was the song racist, or was Pa racist because he was singing the song?”  After some discussion, the student decided that if you repeat racist things, you are probably at least a little racist yourself.  Obviously, how you approach this section is up to you, but I wanted to share just how thoughtfully third graders could approach the material if given some guidance.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – In the Bible Adam didn’t have to wear his best clothes on Sunday because he only had animal skins to wear.  Ma buys white cloth for underwear.
Profanity – None.  “gay” is used to mean happy, which may take some quick discussion for children used to the modern definition.  I would often cite Christmas carols (like Deck the Halls) to help them process the older usage.
Death, Violence and Gore – Father has a gun which he uses for hunting.  There is a very detailed description of how he cares for it and makes bullets.  Animals are killed and trapped for food.  A hog is butchered and Laura hates to hear it squeal.  A panther chases Laura’s grandfather and ultimate attacks a horse, ripping its skin with its claws.  It is shot and killed.  Pa’s toenail was torn off as he ran through the woods.  His father thrashes him with a switch for not following directions.  Grandpa and his brothers broke the Sabbath by sledding and their father “tanned their jackets.”  Laura is spanked on her birthday, but they are gentle spanks. In one of Pa’s songs he mentions laying someone in her tomb. Laura slaps Mary’s face.  Laura gets whipped with a strap.  A calf must be killed for cheese-making.  Another song of Pa’s talks about a man who starves because his wife has him eat the whey.  A boy is very badly stung by a swarm of yellow jackets.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Pa buys tobacco for his pipe. Men smoke pipes.
Frightening or Intense Things – Wolves wait outside and Laura knows they would eat little girls.  Laura’s aunt headed out to get water and her dog became vicious, growling, snarling and snapping.  Aunt Eliza says she though the dog was mad and would have shot him if she’d had a gun. The dog was actually protecting her from a large panther that would have killed her.  A bear gets into the yard and claws at the barn.