The most prominent motif in the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder is the little house itself.  From the Big Woods of Wisconsin to the Shores of Silver Lake, Laura Ingalls Wilder lived in one little house after another as a girl. Sometimes the houses had glass windows. Sometimes they didn’t. Sometimes the snow came in. Sometimes it didn’t. Sometimes the chimneys blazed. Sometimes they didn’t.

But what the little houses lacked in size and stuff they made up for in virtues. “Courage, self reliance, independence, integrity and helpfulness,” as Laura so oft-stated later in life, were the things that fortified her little houses and made them beautiful.  

A Language Lesson

It all started with Pa and Ma and the example they set every day through thick and thin. Let’s think deeply about that as we classify and diagram the following sentences. Some of these are Laura’s words exactly from Little House on the Prairie; others have been adapted. If you are unfamiliar with this type of language exercise, take a look at this blog series here where I break it down in detail.

Final Thoughts

What a tremendous effort that must have been for Pa and Ma, and what a relief, also, it must have been to put their children to bed inside four walls, safe from the wolves and the uncertainties of the pioneer road.

Whether Laura realized the extent of her parents’ labors at the time or only later in life, it clearly made an impression on her. One gets the sense that it was her little houses, through the sacrificial love of her parents, that built Laura.

Therein lies her most important lesson: Families that sacrifice for each other will be strong and good and loving.

Images courtesy of Wiki Commons