Common Sense Media Review
By Carrie Kingsley
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Engrossing frontier tales but they include racist attitudes.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
In the LITTLE HOUSE series, Ma and Pa Ingalls make their way across the American frontier with their growing family, including Mary, Laura, Carrie and Grace, moving from a tiny cabin in the deep woods, across prairies and creeks and small towns, trying to survive. The frontier is unforgiving, and the family faces lost crops and frozen winters, and nearly starves several times. But the joy of these books is in the look at life in the late 1800s, at the way boys and girls behaved, at how much work goes into making a loaf of bread, and at the wide-open spaces that are both beautiful and treacherous.
Is It Any Good?
These books are are classics for good reason. The Little House series takes readers on a journey back in time, when living in a house meant first finding wood and building it, when horse and buggy were the only way to travel, and when candy was a rare treat from town. These stories are engrossing, filled with charming conversations and plotlines that, for the most part, end happily. But it's worth spending time discussing the unhappy and uncomfortable parts. Young readers might not know how to parse the moments that are racist against Native Americans and African Americans, or sexist regarding gender roles, and might not understand that this writing is a product of its time. It also reveals the roots of attitudes that persist today, providing an opportunity for meaty discussions with an adult. That said, the series tells a wonderful, long story about family, perseverance, and the value of an adventurous heart.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how hard the Ingalls family works in the Little House series. It takes days to get to town, they live in such cramped quarters, sharing beds and a tiny cabin, they grow or raise all their own food and their neighbors are miles away. What do you think you would like most and least about living on the frontier?
Was anyone already living on the land where Pa was homesteading? Who decides the rightful owner?
What other books show life on a frontier?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Garth Williams
- Genre : Historical Fiction
- Topics : Adventures , Family Stories ( Siblings ) , History
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : HarperCollins Publishers
- Publication date : January 1, 1932
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
- Number of pages : 256
- Available on : Paperback, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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