In These Happy Golden Years Laura Ingalls Wilder, at age fifteen, becomes a teacher.
From the cover: Laura lives apart from her family for the first time, teaching school in a claim shanty twelve miles from home. She is very homesick, but keeps at it so that she can help pay for her sister Mary's tuition at the college for the blind. During school vacations Laura has fun with her singing lessons, going on sleigh rides, and best of all, helping Almanzo Wilder drive his new buggy. Friendship soon turns to love for Laura and Almanzo in the romantic conclusion of this Little House book.
Although Little House in the Big Woods is a children's book, it's still an enjoyable read for adults. It covers the years when Laural Ingalls and her family lived in a log cabin in Pepin, Wisconsin (near Lake Pepin). Caroline and Charles Ingalls both had the necessary skills for self survival and while Laura's father, a skilled hunter, provided food and fuel for the family, her mother sewed and cooked and kept the cabin clean and tidy. All of the family adapted to a strict regimen to keep their family home well stocked and cared for.
Wash on Monday
Iron on Tuesday
Mend on Wednesday
Churn on Thursday
Clean on Friday
Bake on Saturday
Rest on Sunday
If I was ever stuck in the woods, this is the book I would want with me to learn survival skills! But it wasn't all work. The extended family got together to bleed sap (maple syrup) from the trees which was cooked, and although most of it was stored, they did scoop up platefuls of snow and pour maple syrup on it which quickly turned to candy. Laura Ingalls Wilder was in her sixties when the first book in her Little House series was published after many rejections (she was told writing for children was a waste of time). Her books now have over 60 million in sales. And of course we all remember the series Little House on the Prairie starring Michael Landon.
