The Complete Little House Nine-Book Set Remains a Bestseller at Amazon

Spending time around Laura Ingalls Wilder and Little House on the Prairie fans, I've heard some interesting things over the years. One thing that came up recently is the continued popularity of the Little House series with a generation of children whose regular book picks include paranormal and fantasy titles.

When browsing through Amazon's bestsellers over the past couple of weeks, I discovered that The Complete Little House Nine-Book Set can sometimes be found on their Most Wished for list in Children's Books.

If I visit the set's Amazon page at http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Little-House-Nine-Book-Set/dp/0064400409/ it is listed as a bestseller in the Number 1 spot in two categories: Children's Books, Literature, Short Story Collections (that is an odd category for these) and Children's Books, History & Historical Fiction, Fiction & United States, 1800s. It also ranks as #20 in Children's Books, Literature, Classics.

Why is it that the books remain popular when GenYers and GenZers are coming farther and farther away from the times in which Laura lived? Perhaps one of the elements is what Dean Butler spoke of during our interview. He mentioned that Little House was old when it was new. That's one of the glories of historical fiction. But I also have to believe it largely has to do with the way the books are written. Wilder shared the pioneering experience--its struggles and triumphs--but as Dean pointed out, she did so with a healthy dose of romance and optimism. The sense, he said is, "that if we’re together, and if we stick together and work hard, we will survive and we will do well. We love each other so we are going to stand up for each other and help each other."

I know that's what attracted me to the show, and then to the books. Perhaps our children are looking for those ideals too.

What about you? Why do you believe the books remain popular? Do you know children who are reading them right now? What do they say about them?

New Kids Book Blog

While this is not Laura related, it is children's book related, so I feel I can talk about it here. I've been blogging for a few years now, and my book blog, The Book Connection is doing very well.

What I've noticed lately is that I am reviewing an increasing number of children's, Middle Grade, Young Adult and teen fiction books. I decided to branch those reviews off onto their own site. The Kids Book Connection is now up and running.

I am in the process of copying over some of the reviews that appear at The Book Connection. Once that is done, I will no longer be posting children's book reviews there. All of them will be at my new kid's book blog.

I hope you'll stop by The Kids Book Connection and add us to your blogroll.

Thanks!

All my best,

Cheryl

Note: Thumbnail comes from Mrs. Harper's Kindergarten website.

May Featured Book of the Month

Little House on Rocky Ridge is the first book in Roger Lea MacBride's eight-book series of Rose Wilder's life: moving to Missouri, growing up on Rocky Ridge Farm, going to school, and leaving Missouri to spend a year with her Aunt Eliza Jane Wilder Thayer in Louisiana. The last book of the series, Bachelor Girl, chronicles Rose's journey to San Francisco, where she became one of the many women who earned her own way by taking a job outside the home.

The first chapter of Little House on Rocky Ridge starts off with Mama and Papa (Laura and Almanzo Wilder) deciding to leave De Smet, SD to travel to The Land of the Big Red Apple in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri.

The journey was a tough one, even though their friends the Cooleys came with them. And when Manly and Bess (Almanzo and Laura) arrived in Missouri and finally settled on a little farm to purchase, they discovered the hundred dollars Laura had hidden inside her writing desk--all the money they had--was missing!

But once the money was found, they paid a visit to the banker and bought the little farm with the rocky terrain that they christened Rocky Ridge Farm. Then they really got down to work and made it a real farm.

Originally published under the umbrella of Little House The Rocky Ridge Years in 1993, by the time Book 7 - On the Banks of the Bayou and Book 8 - Bachelor Girl came out in 1998 and 1999 respectively, the series was titled The Rose Years.

Roger Lea MacBride, Rose Wilder Lane's only heir, went to painstaking lengths to ensure that this series was as close to the original Little House books as possible. Those efforts are more than evident to readers; and it is my opinion that of all the other books about Laura's relatives, The Rose Years comes the closest in style and tone to the work of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

This series had two illustrators - David Gilleece and Dan Andreasen. While both men had their unqiue style, they also managed to illustrate the books in a way that left the reader feeling like she was in familiar territory with the Little House books that were illustrated by Garth Williams.

Little House readers will love finding out more about Rose Wilder and Rocky Ridge Farm in Little House on Rocky Ridge.

Laura's Books Not on Library Shelves?

What if your son or daughter wandered into the local library to find one of Laura Ingalls Wilder's classic children's books, but couldn't find it? What if instead, he or she found row after row of empty library shelves?

Sounds crazy? Maybe not.

According to a notice posted at the Issues & Advocacy section of the American Libray Association's (ALA) website, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will not reach a decision on whether to exempt libraries from the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA)--which requires manadatory lead testing on all products targeted for children ages 12 and under--until next week. While being advised not to take any action at this time, American libraries could be forced to remove all children's books targeted for ages 12 and under from their shelves if the law remains unchanged.

The ALA is seeking library advocates to contact the CPSC to let them know how important this issue is to American libraries, and I must add, to our children.

Please see this notice at the ALA website for information on how you can help.

Columnist Believes Losing Yourself in Books Will Create a Bond with Kids

Tyra Damm, columnist for the Dallas Morning News, recently wrote an article about the thrill of discovering a new book or author with a child. Damm lists Laura Ingalls Wilder as one of her favorites, alongside Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein and others, and provides insight into how reading with her children has created a special bond as they stay up late to finish a chapter and find out how the characters get out of various predicaments.

It's definitely worth a read. You'll find the article here.

What Would Laura Think of the CPSIA?

While modern-day issues don't often make their way onto these pages, I think about all of Laura's fans and all the wonderful TV shows, movies, and theater productions that have come about as a result of the Little House books, and can only wonder what Laura might have thought about this law if it were enacted when she was an aspiring author.

Children's author, Elysabeth Eldering--whose State of Wilderness, Book 1 of the Junior Geography Detective Squad series I reviewed here--turned me on to information regarding the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) that President Bush signed into law in August 2008.

Publisher's Weekly has written an article about the negative impact to the children's book industry that compliance with this law will ultimately bring.

CPSIA can only be described as a law where good intentions have gone astray. Instead of targeting the true culprits--toy manufacturers whose products manufactured overseas have been recalled due to lead content and small parts unsafe for children--this ill-written law will cover "all consumer products intended for use by children 12 and under. That includes books, audiobooks and sidelines, no matter where they are manufactured, even though most books have lead levels that are well below the Act’s most stringent safety standards."

According to the Publisher's Weekly article, "The CPSIA dictates that each children’s book SKU, shipped to retailers, catalogues and e-commerce sites as of February 10 must have been tested by a third-party lab to ensure that lead levels are below 600 parts per million. (Acceptable levels drop to 300 ppm in August and 100 ppm in 2011.) Some books also must be tested for phthalates, an acid used to soften plastic. The importer or domestic manufacturer must provide a Certificate of Conformity (usually posted on the Internet), and the product must be labeled appropriately. Older products on shelf must fall within acceptable safety standards but do not need to be accompanied by a Certificate, according to recent comments by the Consumer Products Safety Commission."

This translates into a huge additional cost for publishers; and if we think the book industry has seen a lull in this tough economy, just wait until February 10, 2009 when all these products are required to be tested.

Vivian Zabel of 4RV Publishing has provided the names and address of committee and subcommittee leaders on her Brain Cells & Bubble Wrap blog. These leaders have the ability to call for hearings on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 and advance critical legislation to resolve some of the issues.

Please consider writing letters to these four men to express your concerns about the CPSIA as it is currently written.

Don't let good intentions gone astray squelch the dreams of aspiring children's authors. Don't let an ill-written law put small publishers out of business. Write your letter today!

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award

Administered by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award was first given to its namesake in 1954. This bronze medal honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.

Winners of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award include E.B. White, Theodor S. Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Marcia Brown, and Eric Carle.

For a complete list you may go to the ALA website.



Photo credit goes to ALA.

Partial List of Books

The list below are some of the titles by and about Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family that I own. I haven't updated this in a while so I'm sure I have more by now. Amazingly, new titles continue to be released, which attests to the impact that Laura Ingalls Wilder had on the literary world.



Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little House in the Big Woods
Little House on the Prairie
Farmer Boy
On the Banks of Plum Creek
By the Shores of Silver Lake
Little Town on the Prairie
These Happy Golden Years
The First Four Years
On The Way Home
West From Home









The Martha Years by Melissa Willey

Little House in the Highlands
On the Far Side of the Loch
Down To The Bonny Glen
Beyond the Heather Hills









The Charlotte Years by Melissa Wiley

Little House by Boston Bay
On Tide Mill Lane
The Road from Roxbury
Across the Puddingstone Dam



The Caroline Years by Maria D. Wilkes

Little House in Brookfield
Little Town in the Crossroads
Little Clearing in the Woods
On Top Of Concord Hill
Across the Rolling River
Little City by the Lake
A Little House of Their Own




The Rose Years by Roger Lea MacBride

Little House On Rocky Ridge
Little Farm in the Ozarks
In the Land of the Big Red Apple
On the Other Side of the Hill
Little Town in the Ozarks
New Dawn on Rocky Ridge
On the Banks of the Bayou
Bachelor Girl




Books and booklets by William Anderson

The Horn's Book Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Iowa Story
The Story of the Wilders
The Story of the Ingalls
The Walnut Grove Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Little House Guidebook
Laura Ingalls Wilder Country
A Little House Reader
Laura Ingalls Wilder-A Biography
Laura's Album



Stephen W. Hines

Saving Graces
I Remember Laura
Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder Volume 1
Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder Volume 2
Writings to Young Women from Laura Ingalls Wilder Volume 3






Others

Days of Laura Ingalls Wilder by T. L. Tedrow (entire series)
A Little House Sampler
Laura Ingalls Wilder An Author’s Story by Sarah Glasscock
Laura Ingalls Wilder Growing up in the Little House by Patricia Reilly Giff
The World of Little House by Carolyn Strom Collins
A Little House Christmas-Vol 1
A Little House Christmas-Vol 2
Laura--The Life of LIW by Donald Zochert
Old Town in the Green Groves by Cynthia Rylant
Little House Sisters
A Little House Christmas Treasury
A Little House Traveler Writings from LIW’s Journeys across America (includes On the Way Home, West From Home and the never before released The Road Back (Laura’s journey to De Smet, SD in 1931)



John E. Miller

Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder
Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Town Where History and Literature Met



Related Items

Ghost in the Little House by William Holtz (bio of Rose Wilder Lane)

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Here is a book review of The Long Winter that I wrote last year. I've made a few changes to it since its original publication, but you'll probably be able to figure out it's one of my favorites.

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder

On the Dakota prairie, the muskrats built their thick-walled houses and the geese flew south with great haste, not even stopping to rest in the Big Slough. Pa Ingalls watched these signs and worried of what they foretold.

The Long Winter continues the saga of the Ingalls family--pioneers who continued to move west until they finally settled in the new town of De Smet in Dakota Territory. A surprise October blizzard leaves Pa fearful for his family’s safety as their claim shanty is in no condition to withstand the seven months of storms a wise Indian has predicted.

Pa moves Ma, Mary, Laura, Carrie and Grace into the store building in town so they can be snug and warm, and close to supplies. But the constant blizzards, sometimes only a day or two apart, keep the trains from reaching De Smet. There is no coal, no kerosene, no flour, and no game to hunt. The men go to work on sunny days with picks and shovels, trying to clear the Tracy cut so that the trains can get through to the townspeople who are slowly wasting away. Then the word comes--no trains until spring, and the people of De Smet wonder how long they can survive.



The reason I am drawn to this book is because of its wonderful descriptions. Wilder paints a clear picture of what it was like to live in Dakota Territory during that harsh winter. From the hunger for food, to the frost covered nails on the roof of her house, to the piercing screams of the constant blizzards, Wilder pulls me in. I feel the pain Laura experiences as she watches her family suffer through the dangers of living in a new town where not even rabbits can be hunted for food. I admire Almanzo and Cap as they risk their lives to save the townspeople. And I join in the excitement of waiting for that first train to arrive after months of no supplies.

A book of courage against seemingly insurmountable odds makes The Long Winter a must read for all Laura Ingalls Wilder fans.