pantazis5's Full Review: Laura Ingalls Wilder - By the Shores of Silver Lak...
By the Shores of Silver Lake Number 5 in the Little House Series.
I read all of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books when I was a youngster. I loved to read and spent hours by myself just devouring these books. I had the ability to put myself in the books when I was reading and make friends with the characters. When I was reading I was part of the story too. I hated to come to the end of the story because that meant I was no longer a part of it. I always felt sad on the last page. The first time I would read a book was the best of course because I was ready to be a part of every single adventure. I always read a book at least twice. In my younger years The Little House books were books I read and re read and then read again and again. Over the years I have been able to answer trivia questions in trivia games and in different classes and places because I have read so much and been able to keep what I read in my head. I feel blessed by my reading ability and passion.
The Shores of Silver Lake interrupted my reading ability and my love of reading. I remember the first time I read it, I was ready to read about Laura age 10 leaving the Banks of Plum Creek to move onto her next adventure. Instead the Little House books skipped a few years. I felt like I had missed some major parts of the Little House story. I remember going to the library and searching the shelves frantically for a book that came between Plum Creek and Silver Lake. I never found one. I remember feeling cheated by this story when I was a young girl. Now, as an adult I know that if you read Laura’s biographies you will find information about this missing time. I am assuming these times were more than she could write about. The struggles these people faced were nearly impossible for any of us to imagine, let alone live through.
As we enter the story of The Shores of Silver Lake the family is suddenly older. There is a new baby named Grace in the family and beautiful sister Mary is blind. All we hear about this is that the family had Scarlet Fever and Mary is left blind from it. The story of the family being sick, the loss of crops and the apparent air of sadness at the time is not really described and it is like a whole book was left out. Laura is nearly 13 now. Jack the brindle bull dog dies in the first chapter. The family leaves Plum Creek when Aunt Docia (a character last seen in Little House in the Big Woods) comes with word of a job for Pa. They leave by train and meet Pa in Tracy where Pa will take up a job on the railroad. He is searching for a homestead. He has a job working for the railroad and he will earn 50.00 a month. He sells the little house on Plum Creek for 200.00. (The Plum Creek House was the house and story that was used in the television series as the Little House on the Prairie)
Once I got used to the idea that a book was not missing from the series. I managed to settle into this story and read it and learn to love it as much if not more than the other stories in the series. This story is so fun yet the hardships that this family endured is almost impossible to imagine.
This story is filled with adventure when Laura rides a horse and drives a cart for the first time with her cousin. She sleeps in a tent and enjoys being a young girl with her cousins, but then as the story continues she is faced with a lot of hard work. Laura is a strong and fidgety girl. She hates being idle and is constantly doing something. She is also the eyes for Mary. She leads Mary everywhere and helps her with all that she needs. She takes care of her little sisters and helps Ma. They stay in a rented home in part of this story, to take care of this for the railroad surveyor. Laura and Ma work like crazy as cooks and waitresses caring for the railroad men. To be a thirteen year old girl who works like this is nearly unheard of today! Yet, Laura writes about a girl in the story who at the age of 13 is married! We learn about thieves on the Prairie and about men who stand up for each other to ensure that no one steals from them. The Ingalls family, with all of their hardships seems to have a guardian angel or two guiding them as they travel along their route to their new home.
Christmas Eve brings the family’s new friends, The Boasts. They come in from the storm and celebrate Christmas with the family in the Surveyor’s house. The Boasts are talked about friends of the Ingalls family in every book after this writing. Little Grace is given a beautiful gift of a coat and hat handmade by Ma.
Pa begins work on the first building that will begin the new town in Dakota Territory on Silver Lake. He finds a homestead and begins to build his family yet another Little House. He builds a little Shanty for them to live in during the summer and in the winter time they will live in Pa’s store that he built in town.
The illustrations that Garth Williams has done in black and white are simply wonderful. I know you can purchase the newer editions of these stories and find color versions of the illustrations but for me, the black and white illustrations are the way I remember these books best and enjoy them.
By the Shores of Silver Lake was named a Newbury Honor book in 1940. Laura Ingalls Wilder was in her 60s when she wrote this story about her life that happened in 1879. It has 32 chapters written in 291 pages.
I highly recommend this story and hope you will enjoy reading it. Adults and children alike will find information about the westward expansion that is eye opening and interesting. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s story is written about her family, but many American families have ancestors who struggled like this family.
I am working to review all of the Laura Ingalls Wilder stories. Stay on the lookout for many more to come! In the meantime here are the ones I have completed to date. Please read them and I thank you! Happy New Year 2007!
For the first time in the history of theLittle House books, this new edition features Garth Williams' interiorart in vibrant, full color, as well as a...More at HotBookSale
Laura and her family journey into the unsettled wilderness of the Dakota territory and become the first settlers in the town of DeSmet in this full-co...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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