Laura's books have been a staple in my home library collection since I was a little girl and I have always viewed them as timeless pieces of literature that portrayed an accurate view of pioneer life during the time of westward settlement. I think that the abridged picture and chapter books have made these stories accessible to both children and young adults, which personally allowed me to feel like I was growing up alongside Laura. Her books provided me with a basis for some of the imaginative stories that I would create when I played by myself. I made rag dolls, tried my hand at baking some of her traditional recipes, and identified with her sweet relationship with her family (which was especially described in her Little House in the Big Woods book). I can recall loving the fact that the girls would beg Pa to play the fiddle for them, because my own father used to sing and play the guitar for me before I went to sleep when I was young. While I am aware that there are some underlying messages that could be perceived as racist and/or feminist perspectives, I believe that the "Little House" series was a complete account of the struggles, fears, excitements, and just the daily experiences of the pioneers.
One of the themes that I picked up on and found to be recognized by others as a point of contention with the "Little House" books was the idea of racism toward the Osage Native American tribes that the Ingalls family encountered when they settled in Independence, Kansas. In Little House on the Prairie, Ma concluded that she did not like the Native Americans and did not want to see them, stating that "the only good Indian is a dead Indian". When the Native Americans came to the Ingalls' house while Pa was away, Laura described them as "tall, thin, fierce-looking, brownish-red, and have black, glittering, snake eyes" (Wilder, 1935, chapter 11). However, I do not think that Ma's perspective on the Native Americans has much of an effect on Laura, who, though she was a little bit scared, was also intrigued by them. As I read the story, I felt that Laura Ingalls Wilder did a good job of conveying the feelings of a 6-year old little girl who had probably grown up hearing her parents' stereotypes about the Native Americans. She appeared a little bit fearful, as she knew that her family was living on land that was technically not their own; I think that this may have made the entire family restless and uncertain. I ultimately felt that Laura believed that it was unfortunate that the Native Americans' lands and traditional lifestyle was being impacted by pioneers like them.
Another topic that came up throughout the readings was how Laura Ingalls Wilder could be portraying feminist views to her audiences. In Little House in the Big Woods, Laura describes how Ma, her sister Mary, and she were responsible for preparing the meals and completing various household chores. However, after this book, Laura seems to be increasingly frustrated with doing these jobs and begins to place more emphasis on the different jobs that her father had, such as hunting, molding bullets, hunting and skinning animals, and or chopping wood and building. One blog that I found espoused some of my same thoughts, as it describes the underlying feminist tone of the "Little House" books. The author goes on to say that "it is clear that [the character of Laura Ingalls] treasured the times when she got to help [Pa]" (The Feminist Kitchen, 2010). Laura also seems to be in agreement with Pa when he decides to move the family, often championing the idea that in order to be a good pioneer, she must be a determined and hard-working young woman.
As I searched through various critical responses to the works of Laura Ingalls Wilder, I came across some of the earliest receptions of her stories. In her New York Times' book review, Anne T. Earton praises Wilder for her understanding of "children's tastes and interests...and [how she includes] incidents and accounts of daily doings that both boys and girls will enjoy" (Earton, 1932). Another reviewer, Anne Carol Moore, praises the books for the "atmosphere of festivity and comradeship [that pervades] between the children and their elders" (Moore, 1932). Lastly, Claire Nolte expressed that "the [stories] are just the type that young people would be curious about- everyday happenings of a life quite different from their own."
The last significant critique that I found while researching responses to Laura Ingalls Wilder's books was Anita Clair Fellman's book Little House, Long Shadow, which examines the idea that Wilder was espousing a "covert political message" that was intended to sway Americans from the idea of big government. Fellman claims that both Wilder and her daughter Rose Wilder Lane "celebrated the positive aspects of individualism and production of individual virtue of the family, while ignoring the role of government and community" (Fellman, 2008, p. 76) because of the Ingalls family's resilience through the hardships and ability to be self-sufficient. I think that this perspective is highly one-sided and opinionated, as it examines the books only through the lens of politics and does not take into account the target audience of children and young adults, who would most likely not be delving into these topics. While I did not have the opportunity to read Fellman's entire book, the opportunity to see how controversial subjects could be brought up in Laura Ingalls Wilder's books made me realize how some books can be used by people of all ages to discuss overarching trends and ideas that have existed throughout history. However, I think that this book strays away from Wilder's overall motivation for writing her stories, which was to provide an account of life in the pioneer times from the perspective of a child who lived through it.
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