The Little House - Cozy Miniature Dollhouse for Kids & Collectors | Perfect for Playtime, Room Decor & Gift Giving

Each night I read these books to my 8 yr old daughter. We started a few months ago with the first in the series, Little House in the Big Woods. I also have a 5 yr old who is sometimes interested in the books, but most of the time she falls asleep within minutes of me starting to read. My 8 yr old, however, is very involved in the story and she has been highly inspired by Laura Ingall's life that she often pretends she is Laura, and that life is hard but one must keep up one's spirit and be thankful for what you have, and care for one another.These books are full of adventure, but they are also full of humanity, strength in the face of adversity, faith, life's little pleasures and treasures, and a lot of love. I find myself thinking about their life often, even when doing mundane things like eating. For example, the last time I ate a potato with sour cream I felt so grateful. For unlike the Ingalls during a time when they were literally starving, I had something to put on my potato and it was a treat and not survival food. My daughter, who is used to bountiful Christmases, was impressed with the Ingalls childrens' appreciation for little things, like only a candy cane and a pair of mittens for Christmas. For them, these two small gifts made for a wonderful Christmas. How we could all learn from their gratitude, and sense of happiness without almost any possessions, only each other.As I write this, we are reading the 7th book, The Long Winter. We are really enjoying this one. As we snuggle together in our bed during storytime, warm and cozy, we read about the sheer suffering of the Ingalls in the endless blizzards in Dakota Territory, and feel truly blessed. Laura and her sisters' beds are so cold that they must take a hot iron each and place it under the blankets to help keep their feet warm. But through all of their adventures and hardships, they always manage to have fun, and little treats, and these books remind us of the value in austerity, and how it compels you to appreciation what you do have. They also paint a vivid portrait of what life was like back then. It is a real gift to us all that we have such eloquent, colorful and accurate accounts of a life so far removed from our own, yet not so long ago in the grand scheme of things.The books provoke a lot of thought, especially in times when Pa remarks on how the railroad has changed society, and that "progress" was not all good. My daughter and I talked about just how far that progress went, and what we felt were good things about living in the Ingalls' time vs. our modern times. We both concluded that technology has killed many valuable aspects of family and community. At least we have books like these to remind us how it once was, and cause us to think about how we might do better in our own lives. For example, I no longer begrudge the chores quite so much when I consider the work that the Ingalls had to do each day. I feel inspired to instead see my chores, made easy by comparison thanks to technology, as something of importance. I am not just doing the dishes or washing clothes, I am taking care of the people I love.I hope that in addition to the historical and entertainment value of these books, others are/will also be inspired to be better people, better Christians (if you so believe), better sisters, daughters, wives, husbands, etc. Not complain and whine as much, not wish for more things or waht you don't have, but love what you DO have, that true happiness is in giving, not receiving, that patience is indeed a virtue, and that we all have inner strength if only we couple it with faith and the support of those who love us and believe in us. Attitude is so important. When life gave the Ingalls' many, many lemons, they always made lemonade, and maybe they split it 6 ways but they were always grateful for that couple of sips nonetheless. Nothing was wasted either, which was yet another inspiring message for us 21st century profligates. If possible, anything that can be resurrected into something useful, ought to be. Finally, the love and care they shared was the greatest lesson to be gleaned from these literary gems. The sacrifices they made to send Mary to college would put many from the "ME" generation to shame.In summary, these books are incredibly rich on so many levels and I highly encourage anyone to read them, and to read them to your children. In my experience, ages 7+ will be most receptive. We did skip over some of the somewhat tedious descriptions of outfits and farm equipment, etc, in some of the earlier books but we didn't encounter many of them in later books. What pleases me most about the books is watching my daughter at play, imagining she is Laura Ingalls, and seeing her embodying Laura's qualities, such as compassion, patience, fortitude, and a keen sense of justice. What more could a parent ask for, especially in an era of questionable "role models" and activities designed to further separate us from what really matters - each other. We will be very sad when we finished up the last 2 books. For this series has become like a warm, comfy blanket on a chilly winter's night.