Christmas brings feeling of nostalgia, and today I had a hankering to read a Little House book. I haven’t read these books since I was a kid, and was pleasantly surprised at how readable and timeless the writing is. I know over the past few years, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books have been taken down a notch for some insensitive themes. This book had a particular song with some racist overtones. All I can say is that the books are a product of their time, and are written with a “happily ever after” vibe. After all, they were written for children.

Little House in the Big Woods is mostly about the Ingalls’ family’s life in a log cabin, mainly how they stored food. I enjoyed learning about how they smoked meat with hickory chips, churned butter, sapped maple trees, made cheese, hulled corn, and of course, enjoyed eating the fruits of their labors. Life for Laura was filled with hard work, with little delights like using a thimble to make designs on frosted windows or eating a cookie with a frosted words on it. But most of all, her writing speaks of the love and care that the Ingalls family had for each other.

4.5 stars.