The Little House Books, Vol. 2: By the Shores of Silver Lake / The Long Winter / Little Town on the Prairie / These Happy Golden Years / The First Four Years

by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Caroline Fraser (Editor)

The final five novels of the Little House series are novels of youth and precarious adulthood, beginning with By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939), in which Laura’s parents at last find what they’ve been searching for—a livable homestead—in De Smet, Dakota Territory. In The Long Winter (1940), De Smet is threatened with near extinction when, during the seven-month blizzard of 1880–81, the supply trains stop running. In a combination of selflessness and high spirits, two young townsfolk, Almanzo Wilder and Cap Garland, risk their lives to find a cache of wheat hidden twenty miles from town—sixty precious bushels that save the community from starvation. Little Town on the Prairie (1941) and These Happy Golden Years (1942) tell of Laura’s and Almanzo’s courtship, deepening love, and plans to marry. The series is capped by the posthumously published The First Four Years (1971), an account of the newlyweds’ vain attempt to start a farm on the unforgiving Dakota plains.

These five novels, like the four that precede them, are presented by Library of America without the illustrations and typographical trappings of editions for young readers. Here Wilder’s prose for the first time stands alone and can be seen for exactly what it is—a triumph of the American plain style. An appendix contains two little-known sketches in which Wilder presents scenes from her life following the events of These Happy Golden Years.

Genres: Fiction, Literature

856 pages, Hardcover

First published August 30, 2012

About the author

Ingalls wrote a series of historical fiction books for children based on her childhood growing up in a pioneer family. She also wrote a regular newspaper column and kept a diary as an adult moving from South Dakota to Missouri, the latter of which has been published as a book.

Reviews

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked all these books except The Long Winter. It was just to long and to cold and that was all it talked about. How cold and blizzardly it was. But I guess that was the idea. At the end of the compilation, there was a section what happened to the people in the book. I found this interesting. It was not all the people, I was interested in Mr. Edwards, and he was not there. But Mary Powers and Cap and a few others was in it. I can see how this would grab a middle schooler.

[Sylvie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As noted regarding the previous volume of this set, I decided to reread these because I was travelling to the Midwest and Great Plains and was planning on reading Prairie Fires on the trip. As a child, I read every book in the series but I only revisited certain books. In this set, that was mostly Town and Happy Golden Years. And, in fact, re-reading them now I realize the events of the two had combined into one mega-volume in my memory (Town) and so I was surprised when I got to the end of Town and Laura was not yet married. I'm not sure I ever had re-read By the Shore of Silver Lake before, probably because it contains some of the saddest moments in the series. While its structure and thin plot could be improved (particularly the abrupt ending), I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I love the surveyor's house and the Boasts. I also appreciated The Long Winter a lot more as an adult, so much so that I reread it again while under shelter-in-place orders. It certainly makes you appreciate being stuck at home but in relative comfort. The books lose steam somewhat after Mary's departure, but I still find all the details about life on the frontier and Laura's teaching gigs fascinating.

[Shawn Rathbun · Rating 5 out of 5]

After visiting DeSmet, SD, we (hubby and I) decided to reread the Little House books. Actually, he had never read them. These books are pure joy! I loved them as a child and I still love them as an adult! As an adult, I better appreciate the hardships and the resilience of the these people. My grandparents homesteaded in Minnesota, so it is especially interesting! Laura is so good at describing the "wildflowers nodding", the waves of prairie grass, etc that you can picture it so well in your mind. Pure joy to read for so many reasons!

[David Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent prose for the young readers as well as for the old. Simplistically & Fabulously woven into eight (vols. Ⅰ& Ⅱ) little house books. ideally written for nurturing good morals, and given great care for integral strength. Definitely not silver spooned.

[KarnagesMistress · Rating 4 out of 5]

2016 WCPLRC: A Dead Author's Last Book (The First Four Years in terms of publication, These Happy Golden Years in terms of writing)

[Margaret Tuomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished reading this book at least a month ago but it has been going around in my head ever since. What a wonderful series! It was originally to be an adult autobiography but instead the publisher suggested a series for children. I feel the target for readership got older as the main character got older. Brilliant! Though close to 70 myself, I learned so much about pioneer life and the hardships of farmers, total respect.
After finishing the books I have continued to read supplemental materials about Laura Ingalls Wilder and I have just bought another boxed copy of the series, this time with the illustrations, to reread and give to my future grandchildren. I really missed the illustrations.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the first four novels included in this book. The First Four Years is of less interest as it was never finished for publication. I enjoyed the appendices and the end notes, which included a lot of supplemental information.