Little House in the Big Woods

Laura’s Tin Can Lanterns DIY

Laura’s Tin Can Lanterns DIY

Laura was proud to be helping Ma with the milking, and she carried the lantern very carefully. Its sides were of tin, with places cut in them for the candle-light to shine through. When Laura walked behind Ma on the path to the barn, the little bits of candle-light from the lantern leaped all around her on the snow. The night was not...

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DIY Maple Sugar Candy

DIY Maple Sugar Candy

At last, as Grandma stirred, the syrup in the saucer turned into little grains like sand, and Grandma called: ‘Quick girls! It’s graining!’ Aunt Ruby and Aunt Docia and Ma left the dance and came running. They set out pans, big pans, and little pans, and as fast as Grandma filled them with the syrup, they set out more. They set the...

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Cloth Diapering on the Prairie versus Today

Cloth Diapering on the Prairie versus Today

In the morning after the chores and the house-work were done, Laura and Mary studied their books. In the afternoons Ma heard their lessons. Then they might play or sew their seams. —On the Banks of Plum CreekThe Ingalls family lived a simpler life than most families today, but in many ways, the everyday chores of life were much more...

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Searching for Charles Ingalls in Cuba, New York

Searching for Charles Ingalls in Cuba, New York

Today we are intrigued to hear from Nancy McCabe about her experience exploring Cuba, New York, the birthplace of Charles Ingalls. Hear her interesting stories and tid bits of information about Pa’s first home below.In Cuba, New York, the birthplace of Charles Ingalls, my daughter and I read excerpts from Little House in the Big Woods...

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Laura’s Frontier Fairy Tale

Laura’s Frontier Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, sixty years ago, a little girl lived in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs. —Little House in the Big WoodsScholars of myth, child psychology and literature as diverse as Joseph Campbell, Bruno Bettelheim and Marina Warner argue that, ultimately, the primary purpose of myth and fairy tale is...

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Pa’s Fiddle: Now Is Now

Pa’s Fiddle: Now Is Now

When Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the final scene in her last Little House book for young readers, she gave the closing lines to Pa’s fiddle and its music. Laura and Almanzo’s wedding day has come to a close and the young couple sits on the doorstep of their own little house. In her memory, Laura hears “the voice of Pa’s fiddle and the...

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DIY Pepper Wreaths

DIY Pepper Wreaths

Onions were made into long ropes, braided together by their tops, and then were hung in the attic beside wreaths of red peppers strung on threads. —Little House in the Big WoodsIn the garden, peppers are prolific, and it’s not always easy to know what to do with all of the extras that you inevitably end up with. You can only pass so...

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