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For many generations of children, their first introduction into the world of the Western genre is through The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Born in the “Big Woods” of Wisconsin, Laura spent her youth traveling across the great America prairie in a covered wagon. She watched as her father was the first to break ground on their Kansas farm and followed the construction of a railroad across the Dakotas. Laura lived an iconic American life, and lucky for us, she created stories from those memories and gave us a beloved children’s series.
Laura Ingalls was born on February 7, 1867. Today, that would make her 156 years old. Our own Dena Weigel was one of the children influenced and inspired by Ingalls, and we are delighted to have her share what she learned about the Western genre from Ingalls’ work. So cozy up around the fire and join us as Dena takes us back in time to see the world as it once was when a child crossed the country in the back of a covered wagon.
Dramatic Surroundings
For me, the most meaningful part of Laura’s writing comes through in her talent for setting the stage. Colorful sunsets, the smell of an approaching storm, or the screech of a panther as it pursues it’s prey—Laura had a special talent for describing her surroundings. Likely, that comes from years of “being the eyes” for her blind sister, Mary.
Perfect for young readers, she wrote simple sentences that didn’t condescend, and sprinkled them with slightly uncommon, but more specific, words for them to learn. It wasn’t just a pink sky; it was a salmon-colored streak across a lavender sky. For a young reader and future writer, this illustrated that word choice is impactful in both meaning and substance. It adds to the meaning of the sentence, but it also adds to the feeling the sentence provokes in the reader.
The Ingalls Family (left to right): Caroline, Grace, Laura, Charles, Carrie and Mary
Colorful Characters
The cast of characters in Laura’s stories follow the traditional hallmarks for the Western genre, enhanced by the unique voice of the protagonist.
Until this point, most imagery for the Wild West featured cowboys, gunslingers, and bounty hunters, but in the Little House series it is Laura, a girl the age of four to around eighteen throughout the series who offers a new voice and a new perspective. That’s just the start of what makes her Little House books so special.
Given the time period, most Westerns have limited space for female characters. Teachers, wives, sex workers, and the stray “wild” woman are about all the fairer sex can claim in this genre that’s frozen in time. Laura offers something new. The main protagonist is a spunky girl with complex thoughts and a yearning for adventure. Through her experience we get a new perspective in this very familiar genre.
Ingalls rethought more than just women on the page. Other more typical Western characters set the stage for interesting challenges and interactions. Settlers, Native Americans, and townspeople bring a variety of conflict, wants, and needs that make Westerns so relatable more than a century after the era.
The differences in society’s understanding of prejudices do stand out at times in Laura’s books, and there is much worthwhile commentary on these scenes in her writing. While they undeniably exist, during Laura’s day they were, sadly, common. She wrote about these controversial moments in a way that doesn’t question it, but she does present the separation of cultures that were a part of our country’s commonly accepted ethics at the time.
Exciting Plotlines
Raging rivers, fierce tornados, and roving bandits all show up in the Little House series. Always miles from the civilized world, there is plenty of opportunity to up the ante with intense plotlines. But there’s also the gentle spirit of a loving family to be a counter balance to the sudden, jarring, dangerous experiences each book brings to the table.
Reading them as a child, I often missed the level of danger Laura and her family experienced, but as an adult I understand the seriousness of the glances her parents shared when they talked of a week long blizzard or their rush to put out a prairie fire. The family was nearly murdered, almost starved to death, and much worse during their nomadic years, and Laura handles all these events with the soft truth a child requires.
Action! Action! Action!
Just like Laura, I grew up on the Kansas prairie and the Little House series often captured many of the things I experienced there. The sound of a meadowlark in the morning, cooking over campfires, and watching as a sunset lights up the evening sky. For young readers, the Little House series continues to open the door to the beautiful landscapes, wily characters, and amazing adventures that fans of the Western genre yearn for as they ride off into the sunset.
Happy birthday, Laura Ingalls Wilder!
Thank you for introducing me to the beautiful, untamed world of Western literature.
Are you looking for a reading adventure for your children? We encourage you to dig into stories written by these Chanticleer authors.
Exostar
Rae Knightly
Grand Prize Winner of the CIBA Gertrude Warner award
It has been said that “the Golden Age of Science Fiction is twelve.” Rae Knightly’s Sci-Fi adventure, Exostar, embodies this childlike sense of wonder that the best of the genre evokes in its readers.
Twelve-year-old child-robot Trinket takes off on a rocketing spaceship straight towards danger and excitement, with the mostly able assistance of the blue-furred spy and saboteur Woolver Talandrin. Trinket is searching for identity—as all the best young science fiction protagonists do. Woolver is trying to bring down an evil empire—as all the other best science fiction protagonists do.
Together they’ve been thrust into the kind of epic tale that is guaranteed to keep young readers on the edge of their seats—including the twelve-year-old that lurks inside every science fiction fan.
The Ghost in the Garden
Alisse Lee Goldenberg
In Alisse Goldberg’s engaging young adult mystery, The Ghost in the Garden, a curious 11-year-old must face the challenges of moving to a new city, losing old friends, making new ones, and encountering historic specters in her new home.
Sophie Madison seems none too happy about her recent move from the bustling city of Calgary, Ablerta to the smaller, quieter landscape of Stratford, Ontario. But upon arrival with her parents, she begins noticing the charm of the place, appearing like a step back in time. Their new house in particular catches her interest, with its tall turret topped by stained glass window panes where Sophie’s bedroom will be. In addition, the wild beauty of the backyard garden draws her in.
Soon, a mysterious blonde-headed girl named Tabitha appears in the garden.
Tommy Rocket and the Goober Patrol
Thomas R. Kuhn
Tommy Rocket and the Goober Patrolby Thomas R. Kuhn follows Nate, a young boy growing up in the 1970s, whose friendship with the kid genius robot builder, Tommy Rocket, leads him into mysterious adventures.
Tommy’s father invented the Prometheus chip that gives sentience to robots, and from a young age Tommy started creating a gang of robots called the Goober Patrol. Eccentric and wheelchair-bound, Tommy prefers to tinker with his robots at home. But he befriends Nate after he saves Tommy from bullies.
When Tommy’s aptly named ‘Monster-bot’ gets loose, Nate is tasked with finding and securing the rogue bot before anyone finds out. But the two boys soon find out there is more at work than one missing robot. There’s another tinkerer in town and they’re building their own special group of robots—which look just like one of Tommy’s creations. Nate and Tommy have to find out who has gotten their hands on the Prometheus chip before it’s too late.
Mayday
Sue C. Dugan
In Sue C. Dugan’s middle grade adventure,Mayday: Land, Sea, and Air Series Book 2,thirteen-year-old Jessie and her father, Adam, take an unexpected detour when their plane crashes on a secluded island.
On their final vacation before Adam begins chemotherapy for thyroid cancer, Jessie and her father take off in their Cessna aircraft over the boundless, azure Atlantic Ocean. Jessie’s anxiety about her father’s health is on high-alert during the trip, especially when she remembers her mother’s cancerous death.
Twenty minutes into their flight, the sky grows gloomy, and the wind picks up speed from all sides.
If you’d like to loose yourself in tales of the Old West, we suggest these Chanticleer authors.
A Grave Every Mile, Book One of the Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail
David Fitz-Gerald
Grand Prize Winner of the CIBA Series award
Each day’s trumpet blasts the predawn quiet of the sleeping wagon train, demanding that its migrating families face what’s ahead, whether incredible scenery or mortal danger, in David Fitz-Gerald’sA Grave Every Mile.
This beautifully told story mixes adventure, survival, community, and history, all shown through the eyes of Dorcas, a feisty mother of four. She’s dreamed of hitting the trail to the storied West for so long, but much about this trip and their destination remains unknown.
Another wagon travels alongside hers. Who are they? Will they remain strangers, or become friends? Now that Dorcas stands with her family at the trail’s starting point and on the brink of changing their lives forever, a tremor of doubt surfaces about what lies ahead. Is her family strong enough to face their future? Will it be everything she and her husband hoped for? That future is 720,000 turns of the wagon wheels away, and there may beA Grave Every Mile. It all starts with that first pull by the team of oxen.
Guarded Hearts
T.K. Conklin
Grand Prize Winner of the CIBA Laramie award
Guarded Hearts by T K Conklin is a sensual romance in the Wild West, with all the passion and excitement natural to the setting.
Sparks fly between a man with an outlaw past and a woman with a terrifying gift to heal or harm. Strykes is a man haunted both by a violent childhood and his time in an outlaw gang. But he has found a place in Rimrock, where he met LaRisa, an auburn-haired woman whom the townspeople have labeled a “witch” due to her healing herbs and rumors of her “powers”.
LaRisa has kept her distance from people, afraid of her gift of healing touch that can turn dangerous, even deadly. But, when she comes to town to deliver her medicinal herbs, she makes her way to the livery with tasks for Strykes such as shoeing her horse or fixing a spring in her wagon. He is only too happy to oblige the auburn-haired beauty. The attraction between them is instantaneous, yet they both are hesitant to act on it, fearing they would hurt the other– he from his violent past, and she from her “witch” power.
Thank you for joining us in celebrating the legacy of Laura Ingalls Wilder!
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