Book 1: Little House in the Big Woods

It just occurred to me that I never actually posted about the ten books that I mentioned in my Tuesday Teatime video a few weeks ago, and I really would like to share my thoughts about them. So starting from the beginning, here are ten reasons why Little House in the Big Woods would make my bookshelf of ten books.

First, this was the book that ignited my passion for reading. My grandparents gave it to me for Christmas in 1997, just after I had turned six years old. Up until this point, I had loved reading picture books with my parents and then had moved onto reading short 'chapter books' on my own. But Little House in the Big Woods was something entirely new. I identified with the main character. I delighted in imagining her life. I applied the lessons that five-year-old Laura learned in the book to my own life. My mother had been reading the book to me each night before bed, but before she knew it, I had finished the book on my own and was devouring the next in the series. 

Second, the book taught me about a strong work ethic and the importance of having a work plan and routine. (I'm not kidding. I credit a lot of my personality as a planner to this book and the rest in the series.) Some of the routines Ma, Laura, and Mary follow in the book are burned in my memory and influence how I work to this day. This passage in particular has had a very positive impact on me:

"After [the breakfast dishes and bed-making were] done, Ma began the work that belonged to that day. Each day had its own work. Ma used to say:

'Wash on Monday,

Iron on Tuesday,

Mend on Wednesday,

Churn on Thursday, 

Clean on Friday,

Bake on Saturday

Rest on Sunday.'"

Clearly, I'm not spending my Thursdays churning or anything. But I do still try to give myself one main task per day with other smaller, less important tasks. So for example, this week, my main task each day has been to plan a certain number of lessons on Beowulf for the fall. Then I have a small to-do list with secondary tasks like emails to respond to, chores to do around the house, and phone calls to make. Also, the perennial wisdom that a sink free of dishes and a crisply made bed are good ways to start the day has served me well. Thanks, Little House.

Somehow I was lucky enough to find friends who also loved the series so much that they also found it fun to dress up in 'olden days' clothes, as I called them. We were nine here, I think. (And yes, I was tiny.)

Thirdly, and closely related to the previous point, the book introduced to me the concept that Sundays should be kept free from work. My parents didn't work on Sundays, and the day was always reserved for mass and family time anyway, but my parents had never actually told me they refrained from work on Sundays. It wasn't a concept that entered my consciousness until I read the chapter on how Laura and her family spent Sundays. At six years old, I didn't really have any work to refrain from on Sundays, and in high school, I was studying every spare minute I had in order to try to get into Harvard. But from college onwards, the idea that Sunday is the Lord's day really became important to me, and I even revisited the chapter in Little House when trying to think of ways to make Sunday special.

Fourth, the book taught me that I didn't need fancy toys to have fun. Laura had a corn-cob doll and a ball made out of a pig's bladder (okay, that one is kind of gross) and she always had a good time. I started playing with paper dolls and playing 'house' in the yard with my sister because I wanted to have fun the same ways that Laura had fun.

And finally, the silly little lessons I learned from the book have stuck with me for almost twenty years, and I think they'll probably stick around at least twenty more. Some gems include: (1) don't jump on a hornets' nest; (2) if you're advised to do something as quickly as possible, there's probably a good reason; (3) brown hair is just as pretty as blonde, and it's not worth fighting over anyway. Oh, and (4) if you don't have a ball handy, use a pig's bladder. (Just kidding.)

Happy Friday, everyone!

Quotation taken from Wilder, Laura Ingalls. Little House in the Big Woods. 1932. New York: HarperCollins, 1971. p29.