Tag: homesteading

Laura Ingalls Wilder Resources

- Beth Leave a comment

While I am no fan of ice and bitter cold temperatures, early February is my favorite time of year, reading-wise. Author Laura Ingalls Wilder was born on February 7, 1867, and died February 10, 1957. I call this “Laura Week” and use the time to read new publications about her or re-read the classic “Little House” series. The world of Laura Ingalls Wilder continues to endure re-examinations 60+ years after her death.

This year I will be reading A Prairie Girl’s Faith by Stephen W. Hines. This book is described as “An extended, in-depth discussion of the Christian faith of one of America’s most beloved pioneer women, Laura Ingalls Wilder.” I recall several scenes in the “Little House” books about Laura attending church services with her family. In On the Banks of Plum Creek, Pa sacrifices money saved for new work boots to contribute toward the church bell. I’m excited to learn how the “real” Laura’s faith shaped her life.

Other recent non-fiction books have taken closer looks at various aspects of Wilder’s life. Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. It puts Wilder and her family in the greater context of the American history they were living. Libertarians on the Prairie by Christine Woodside examines the political influences Wilder and her daughter Rose Wilder Lane weaved into the books.

In fiction, Caroline : Little House, revisited by Sarah Miller has been a recent hit for adult readers. This historical fiction novel tells the story of the family’s homesteading attempt in Kansas Indian Territory from Ma’s perspective. You may be familiar with the story from the third book in the children’s series “Little House on the Prairie.”

Many Midwesterners have fond memories of reading the “Little House” series or watching the 1970s Little House on the Prairie TV show, even in reruns. It brings back a comfy nostalgia of simpler times, self-reliance and family togetherness. Those themes seemed particularly significant during a year of quarantining and social distancing. I heard of people turning to Wilder’s The Long Winter to see how her family made it through the 1880-1881 South Dakota winter filled with the blizzards, boredom and monotony — and they didn’t even have wi-fi! It might be worth a revisit for you.

Looking at the “Little House” book series through a modern lens, we see it is not without problems in how it treats Indigenous people and people of color. The American Library Association responded to a re-examination of her work by changing the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award to the Children’s Literature Legacy Award in 2018. Before and after the name change, the award aimed to honor an author or illustrator whose books have made a significant and lasting contribution to children’s literature. If you are interested in an academic approach to Laura Ingalls Wilder, I suggest exploring the Davenport Public Library’s Online Reference & Research Resources. The Educator’s Reference database, for example, has several article’s discussing the ALA decision to change the name of the award. A search for “Laura Ingalls Wilder” generates an article with alternatives to the “Little House” series, such as Betsy-Tacy by Maud Lovelace and the Birchbark House series by Louise Erdrich. There are dozens of other full-text articles about Laura Ingalls Wilder, her work and her writing.

 

 

 

Online Reading Challenge – January Wrap-Up

- Ann 6 Comments

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

How did your reading go this month? Did you find a great Kristin Hannah book or something similar?

I read The Great Alone, a title that had gotten a lot of buzz when it came out and a lot of very good reviews. However, I was warned by a couple friends that the book was pretty dark and sad so I was a little worried.

Well, my friends were right – it is dark and very sad in parts – but the reviewers were right too. Hannah is an excellent writer, able to draw you into another world quickly and able to keep the tension of “what happens!” rolling throughout the book. It might not be my favorite book of all time, but I couldn’t put it down and I haven’t stopped thinking about the themes in the book and what happened.

Set mostly in the mid-to-late 70s, The Great Alone is about a family that moves north to Alaska. Ernt Allbright has been nearly destroyed by the Vietnam War where he spent six years as a prisoner of war. Haunted by nightmares and unable to fit in, he takes his wife Cora and daughter Leni to Alaska to establish a homestead in a remote cabin far from the pressures of modern life.

Cora is ill-suited to the harsh work required to survive, but she loves Ernt deeply and follows willingly. At 13, Leni has no choice but to go with them but finds that there is a terrible beauty to Alaska that appeals to her and shapes her into the woman she will become.

At first, Ernt seems better. The family arrives in Alaska in the early summer, the neighbors and small town welcome them and they start to build a life. However, they are woefully unprepared for an Alaskan winter and the pressure builds in Ernt. He begins drinking too much, becomes convinced the government is coming to kill them all and then becomes abusive, beating Cora and punishing Leni for any mistake, real or imagined. Isolated and far from any help, Leni and her Mother must band together to survive not only the harsh conditions, but the danger from within.

This is a fascinating look at family dynamics, the strength of character and adaptability of people, and the devastating, long-term effects of war and PTSD. Throughout it all, Alaska looms large with it’s incredible beauty and unforgiving landscapes, a central character in it’s own right.

Now it’s your turn – what did you read this month?

 

Flat Broke with Two Goats by Jennifer McGaha

- Ann Leave a comment

Guest post by Laura

This book title, Flat Broke with Two Goats, is one of the catchiest I’ve seen in a while. In this memoir, MaGaha finds herself in foreclosure due to self-admitted willful ignorance of the family finances, which her accountant husband oversaw. My favorite part of the book was the author’s move to Macomb, Illinois to teach at “the University”. I had visited a college friend at Western Illinois University in Macomb decades ago, and more recently spent the day there attending a business meeting for a different job so I was a bit familiar with the place. This section of the book was a bit like a mild version of Eat Pray Love, only with cornfields, a boxcar, and sweltering Midwest heat.

At times I found the author annoying in her unwillingness to take responsibility for her actions and for not thoroughly researching the care and feeding of her animals. I also would have found the cabin less disappointing and more potentially exciting. All of those acres of natural timber and a beautiful waterfall view? Sign me up! Sure, the house was a dump and there were poisonous snakes and wolf spiders, but the couple made the house hospitable with some improvements. As for the critters, I admit I would be treading carefully and somewhat anxiously because of the snakes, but I already deal with wolf spiders in my neck of the woods.

The couple went on to raise chickens and goats and slowly transformed from people who lived beyond their means into rural farm people living a simpler life. I liked how she found making yogurt and soap fulfilling. She realized she’s gone back to some of the practices of her ancestors on these same lands, minus the constant backbreaking work and potential to go hungry with a crop failure. I give MaGaha props for bravery in being brutally honest about her life, which must have been difficult. She’s an accomplished freelancer but in looking at her website it appears this was her first published book. I think she will continue to find maturity in her novel-writing voice with subsequent books.

audio version available through Overdrive

Shepherd: a Memoir by Richard Gilbert

- Ann Leave a comment

shepherdUpon moving to Appalachian Ohio with their two small children, Richard Gilbert and his wife are thrilled to learn there still are places in America that haven’t been homogenized in Shepherd: a Memoir.

The Gilberts excitement over the region’s beauty and quirky character turns to culture shock as they try to put down roots far from their busy professional jobs in town. They struggle to rebuild a farmhouse, and Gilbert gets conned buying equipment and sheep – a ewe with an “outie” belly button turns out to be a neutered male – and mysterious illnesses plague the flock. Haunted by his father’s loss of his boyhood farm, Gilbert likewise struggles to earn money in agriculture. Finally an unlikely teacher shows him how to raise hardy sheep – a remarkable ewe named Freckles whose mothering ability epitomizes her species’ hidden beauty.

Discovering as much about himself as he does these gentle animals, Gilbert becomes a seasoned agrarian and a respected livestock breeder. He makes peace with his romantic dream, his father, and himself. Shepherd, a story both personal and emblematic, captures the mythic pull and the practical difficulty of family scale sustainable farming. (description from publisher)