Little Houses

[dancerjodi]

These were extremely popular amongst girls when I was growing up, but somehow I never managed to read them. Just like I never read Anne of Green Gables or The Secret Garden. What's wrong with me? I was really an avid reader. But I digress.

I have been meaning to read them at some point, easily found at the local library. This post just inspired me to check them out for another reason entirely, which I hadn't thought of before.

Comments

Have book will travel

[sanguineempathy.livejournal.com]

I read the little house books but not secret garden or A of GG as well...
Part of the issue was prob. that I always read above my grade level...usu. reading what my father was reading - alot of Piers Anthony Sci Fi and Spy stuff.... so when other's in the class might have been reading these...I had surpassed them already

I also did fit in w/ Girly stuff.... so that's the other reason I prob. missed AofGG ... tho' I did get into Judy Blume... go figure.

Have you read the All Creatures Great & Small, James Herriot books?

Re: Have book will travel

[dancer.livejournal.com]

I didn't get a lot of the "cool" girls stuff. My parents were hippies/artists to a degree, and were more focused on hands-on/educational/crafty stuff and less into the fads. NOW I appreciate this, but back then I hated it.

That said, I did read a lot of the Judy Blume books.

I had the similar grade level issue, I think mostly because I spent the first 9 years of my life in the Wellesley school system and then we moved to Waltham Public/Catholic school in Watertown. My math and reading level far surpassed my peers and for a bit I had class on my own or with the next grade up. I was 'normalized' in 5th grade, and I wonder to this day what potential may have been lost as a result of the teachers wanting their lives made easier.

Maybe we can meet up somewhere sometime just to catch up and I could get the books from you? It would be nice to see you again, least of all. :)

Re: Have book will travel

[dancer.livejournal.com]

Oh, never heard of James Herriot.

Re: Have book will travel

[lsl.livejournal.com]

If you decide you are interested in reading James Heriot, let me know. I;ve got them all and you are welcome to borrow them.

Re: Have book will travel

[christmasjedi.livejournal.com]

WHA????? Jodi! For shame!! If I remember, I will bring my James Herriot books to the Christmas party tomorrow night for you. They are a must read for any animal lover. He was a Scottish vet who wrote about his life and the animals he cared for. There's also lots of enjoyable human stories mixed in as well. I adore James Herriot.

I never read LHotP or AoGG either, just The Secret Garden. Which I also have a copy of if you'd like to read it.

OOOOOOOOOOOH!

[dee-cee.livejournal.com]

This is one of my favorite book series OF ALL TIME!!!!

Sadly, I lost my box set during a move; our U-Haul had a leak, and a box of books got destroyed.

I keep meaning to get the box set again, because I plan on reading them to Martha when she's older. Or if she's like me, she will read them herself!

Re: OOOOOOOOOOOH!

[dancer.livejournal.com]

I predict you could find that same set on ebay or something, or via thrifting or whatever . . . keep your eyes open!

Nancy Drew is on the list of "books I must share with a child". I loved that series and I totally wanted to be her (I read my Mom's old yellow hardcover ones, that had been abandoned in my grandparent's basement along with old Skipper dolls and records). I've been keeping my eyes open for them at used book stores and such.

Re: OOOOOOOOOOOH!

[dee-cee.livejournal.com]

Yep, loved Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, and the Bobbsey Twins as well!

Erik & I walked through the B&N children's section awhile back. There was a lot of nostalgia for me, but also some sadness as the YA books look so much more grownup now...

Re: OOOOOOOOOOOH!

[zanylikethat.livejournal.com]

I LOVE Nancy Drew! I used to read Nancy Drew books under my desk in school all the time.

I read and loved the Little House books too, but I preferred Nancy Drew because she was more exciting--although Laura is definitely a strong female character, she was always restrained and pretty well-behaved and stuck to her "place." Nancy was much more brazen and had thrilling adventures--I honestly think my childhood love of Nancy Drew helped steer me toward loving sci-fi/fantasy, in a way.

The Little House books are really good, though, and very interesting from a historical standpoint.

Re: OOOOOOOOOOOH!

[nepenthedreams]

Nancy Drew - the reason why I love abandoned houses or anything creepy or unexplored - she was always doing investigations in places like that.

[tiamatlady]

I LIVED for the Little House books. I can still quote you from one of them, when Laura is a teacher being courted by Almanzo. *sighs* I have some of them, if for some reason they're not readily available. You won't have any problem whipping through them. And the TV show was only loosely based on the books, you'll find only major life stuff is the same.

Anne of Green Gables you'll like a lot, that and the other ones in the series. I have all of those too. They're a bit more complex, still really good for grownups. I have a driving urge to visit Prince Edward Island because of these. They have a whole Anne of Green Gables driving tour. (Proof that I'm a dork, sans costumes!)

hehehehe - I don't know how you missed these either!

Girl's books

[dancer.livejournal.com]

I haven't read Little Women either. I really don't know what's wrong with me, because we owned a ton of books, and I spent a lot of time in libraries.

Re: Girl's books

[tiamatlady]

I wonder if it's the school difference? I seem to recall my teachers making more recommendations, plus we had a tiny library. Not that you didn't, but more there was LESS to read, and they had mostly "Classics" I recall getting most of the Little House books at the big library, so my school library probably only had one or two.

Half of the stuff I read I've either had forever, which means my grandmother's influence, or I got it at school. Not my family for sure, with the exception of Nancy Drew. I still remember the bookcases in my grandmother's basement and only being able to take 2 at a time. Under the "Don't ruin them!" threat (Like I would ever ruin a BOOK. That woman was horrible.)

Nothing wrong with you - you can read them now! LH is awesome!

Re: Girl's books

[dawntreader]

Nothing wrong with you - you can read them now! LH is awesome!

agreed. :) there are only so many days in a lifetime and a million more books than that. so you can't possibly have read ALL the good book yet.

i read Anne of Green Gables about 10 years ago (finally) and Secret Garden just last year. but i read and re-read and re-re-re-read the Little House books all the time growing up!

looking back (and ahead) maybe i should make more time for reading new things, but i enjoy re-reading as much as reading.

[alonewiththemoon]

I loved the Little House books--scenes and events from them have stuck with me over the years. One sheep-shearing scene in Alonzo's book has been particularly inspirational to me. One of the things that fascinated me in the books was the very real precariousness of life in the big woods or on the prairie. I read my mother's set of books, printed sometime in the late 40s or early 50s with wonderful line drawings, so my reading/memories have a double layer of nostalgia. Plus reading them in the women's lib era of the 70s, these strong pioneer women struck a "you can do anything" chord that fit the zeitgeist around me.

I liked Anne of Green Gables, but she wasn't as compelling, maybe because she wasn't real. I read The Secret Garden several times, trying to make up my mind whether I liked the lead character or not. I definitely liked that the book didn't make that decision for me. In the end my sympathy for her won out.

Little Women is very good--it really isn't what you would expect from the popular culture references that have grown up around it.

[jhenaphere.livejournal.com]

I never liked the little house on the prairie books. I DO have a vivid memory of the main character getting covered in leeches after wading through a pond, but thats about it. I LOVED The Secret Garden. I also loved Judy Blume. Like others who are posting, I read WAY above grade level, but my parents (both teachers) thought it was important for social/emotional development purposes for me to also read close to grade-level books, and I agree with them. I remember enjoying the topics but going through them really quickly. The Judy Bloom book Deenie, about a girl with Scoliosis, was very important for me - I wore a back brace for scoliosis from age 6 until age 15.

I highly recommend reading The Secret Garden. It really helped develop my love of and respect for nature!

[nepenthedreams]

Those were some of my favorite books. Anne of Green Gables was so inspirational; and Little House - man I was always pretending that I lived on the frontier after reading those. the secret garden was OK but I really loved - and reread several times - the Little Princess (same author). And of course there was always Ramona.

So, what are your favorite girlhood books if those weren't your favorites?

[dancer.livejournal.com]

My favorites were the Nancy Drew series.

[nepenthedreams]

There were enough of those that you'd never run out...I wonder if those are still going.

[flamingfemme.livejournal.com]

It took me alsmot three years to read the LIttle House series - Starting when I was about 6. My grandmother's rules were that she bought the books for me to keep at her house, so I could only read them while I was there. When she and my grandfather moved to FL when I was in jr. high, I finally got to keep the set at home - And proceeded to re-read it. Twice. :)
Like others, I read far above my grade level, so around the same time I also read every Judy Blume book I could find, all the Nancy Drew books that my mother owned (as well as the Hardy Boys and Bobbsey Twins' books), and, well, pretty much anything printed that I could get my hands on, lol.
Enjoy them. :)