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Little House on the Prairie Laura Ingalls Wilder (1935)
children that mind their parents! American West, building from scratch, dangers in wilderness… and yes, Ma is a racist. But is it redeemed in the end? Or too offensive?
here's one view: http://www.oyate.org/books-to-avoid/littlehouse.html
2 comments:
I thought these would be great to read to Fiona, age 6. We read "Little House in the Big Woods" which she said was a "stupid" book. Given her obsessive nature, she picked the next book in the boxed paperback set inherited from big sis Brynna (who hated these books), so we dutifully began "Little House on the Prairie." Yes, both Ma and Pa are racist when it comes to "Indians" but less so when it comes to African-Americans, as it was a black doctor who saves them from malaria. But ummm even racism aside, reading these out loud, as a grownup? Boring. Thank goodness we have been reading "Fantastic Mr. Fox" by the awesome Mr. Dahl simultaneously.
my Little House set was buried in a box until after the boys passed 6, so if Pa didn't encounter Bionicles or space aliens out on the prairie, they weren't interested... I should try again with the littlest one; Dahl certainly is whizpoppingly livelier (sp?) reading, we have almost all of his books...
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