“One evening at supper, Pa asked, ‘How would you like to work in town, Laura?'”

From Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House: Little Town on the Prairie.

After the long winter comes to an end, the Ingalls family is ready to return to normal life as Pa and Ma plant crops and gardens, and the three oldest girls handle household chores and caring for their youngest sister. Since Laura’s older sister, Mary, is blind, the family prepares to send her to a school for the blind, and Laura takes a job as a seamstress in town to help her family afford Mary’s tuition. When the fall term starts, Pa and Ma take Mary to Iowa to start at the school. When the family moves back into town for the fast-approaching winter, Laura and Carrie are able to attend school again, which excites Laura who wants to become a schoolteacher. However, the recent arrival of Laura’s old enemy Nellie causes trouble between Laura and Eliza Wilder, the schoolteacher. Laura pours herself into studying and preparing to be a teacher as soon as she is old enough. The following school year brings many exciting developments as Eliza’s younger brother, Almanzo, begins showing an interest in Laura, she is able to receive her teaching certificate early, and she is offered a teaching job at a nearby settlement. While preparing for her new job and the fast-approaching life changes, Laura embraces the potential that the future holds with excitement.

Wilder’s popular Little House series continues with this seventh book that does well to create settings and characters that are relatable, captivating, and timeless.  The illustrations are simple, yet powerful when coupled with the unfolding story.  While there are some more mature ideas presented from the lifestyle of the characters and world at the time, but the details are realistically descriptive.  Little Town on the Prairie is a captivating look at life in the past that made the series so popular for readers of all ages.