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Title: These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Garth Williams ISBN: 0-06-026480-2 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 14 October, 1953 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.91 (32 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The last book in the series published before her death.
Comment: This book, which was a 1944 Newbery Honor Book (that is, a runner-up to the Medal winner), continues the autobiography of Mrs. Wilders (1867-1957) through the years 1883 to 1885 when the author was 15 to 18 years old. It begins immediately after the events described in "Little Town on the Prairie"; she immediately begins her career as a school teacher in a very small schoolhouse about twelve miles to the south of De Smet, South Dakota (although South Dakota doesn't become a state until 1889). Through experimentation, practice, and management, she becomes a good school teacher and is able to keep up with her own studies. And, at the same time, earn enough money to help keep her sister Mary in a college for the blind in Iowa. Almanzo Wilder (1857-1949) continues to court her and drives her home each weekend in a horse-drawn sleigh. As time goes by their friendship turns to love and they are married and Laura goes off to Almanzo's homestead to have her own little house on the prairie. Throughout the book, the author continues to include details of frontier/homesteader life that brings that part of our history to life and shows how people worked hard to overcome difficulties, never giving up. In my opinion, this is the best written of all of the books in the series. It also shows the love that Laura and Almanzo truly had for each other.
Rating: 5
Summary: Interesting, but with a few things I didn't like....
Comment: This book tells of 3 years of Laura's life between ages of 15, when she first goes out to teach school - to 18, when she gets married.
We witness Laura's growing up and realization that life is changing all around her. Mary is in college, and is independent enough to want to stay with a friend for the summer instead of coming home. It's obvious that Laura's relationship with her sisters and friends in school are changing - in 'Little Town on the Prairie' her school life for example, and her after school or weekend social activities with her friends are a large part of the book, but now we only hear of a few remote incidents, and we hardly hear anything about the going ons there, for instance we don't really get to know Florence, the new 'big girl'. This is partly due to the increasing role of Almanzo Wilder's part in Laura's life, but I think that is also partly due to the fact Laura isn't attending school full time anymore, but rather teaches school herself for a term or two a year.Except for Ida's small part in Laura's wedding, we don't hear of them any more for the rest of the series.
We also see Laura herself change: part of it is what I just mentioned about the change in what she describes in her social life. Another one would be her very detailed description of her clothes and fashions - even though we do hear about her dresses in previous books, she seems much more occupied with them this time, like any teenage girl... In betwen the lines, we do see that the Ingles family is doing better financially - they are improving their house, and can often afford luxuries such as a sewing machine and an organ for Mary.
I did find a few points I didn't like in this book, compared to the previous books in the series:
1) Instead of giving an account of a relatively short period (a year or 2, like in the previous books), we are now covering 3 years, and we usually get an 'in depth coverage' of a relatively short period, or a few remote incidents, then run through a long period which is skipped. Laura only described her first school with as much details as I was used to in her previous books, but the next 2 schools are hardly mentioned... It isn't as bad as her descriptions in 'The First Four Years', but it's still noticeable.
2) We get a lot more of Almanzo, while we get less of the pioneer life of that era... This is an semi - autobiography of Laura's life, not a history book, I admit, but I think that the historical and cultural element of these books has been a major attraction for readers, especially the older ones.
Rating: 5
Summary: A golden review
Comment: The book These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder is wonderful! The story is about Laura who is teaching because her sister Mary has gone blind. Laura has to become a teacher to live up to her mothers expectations. Almanzo Wilder and Laura are dating and Almanzo proposes. Almanzo's family hears about it and his mother and sister are coming to plan the wedding their way! Laura and Almanzo have to figure out a way to get married their way! I would recommend this book to a friend my age. I suggest you read the whole collection first so you can understand it better.
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Title: The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Garth Williams ISBN: 006440031X Publisher: HarperTrophy Pub. Date: 14 October, 1953 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Garth Williams ISBN: 0064400069 Publisher: HarperTrophy Pub. Date: 14 October, 1953 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Garth Williams ISBN: 0064400050 Publisher: HarperTrophy Pub. Date: 14 October, 1953 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Garth Williams ISBN: 0060264705 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 14 October, 1953 List Price(USD): $16.99 |
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Title: Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Garth Williams ISBN: 0064400034 Publisher: HarperTrophy Pub. Date: 14 October, 1953 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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