Parents' Guide to Little House on the Prairie

Much like the beloved 1970s TV series, this adaptation—if not a faithful adaptation of Wilder's books—uses the books as a jumping-off point to tell a gorgeous, heartfelt tale about a pioneer family. In many ways, Little House on the Prairie improves on the original book series, yet literary sticklers may wish they could see favorite book scenes brought to life instead of invented-for-the series incidents. But first, the good stuff: Little House wisely chose to include one group of people whose portrayal looms over the books: the people of the Osage Diminished Reserve in which the Ingalls and other settlers illegally squatted. In the books, Laura's childlike perspective and a lot of Manifest Destiny-type blustering from Pa obscures the offenses against the Osage Nation; in this series, Native characters are included, and their outrage with their unwelcome new neighbors is too.

Little House includes other characters that help illuminate the Ingalls family's experience, widening the focus point of the series beyond Laura's exclusive POV. We get to know the other members of the Ingalls family with more clarity; some revelations, such as Caroline Ingalls' early loss of her father, are fascinating torn-from-history facts that weren't in the books. We also interact with book characters who have their own cool backstories, such as Dr. George Tann (readers may remember him helping the Ingalls family during their bout with malaria) and Mr. Edwards (a book favorite who appeared in multiple stories). Along with these old faves, viewers will meet many new characters, from Good Eagle, a young Osage girl who befriends Laura, to Jemma James, a judgmental neighbor in the town of Independence where the Ingalls settle. Despite the distraction of new material, the storytelling in this Little House version is emotional and gripping, and Halsey makes a fine, fresh Laura. Those who can lay aside their quibbles and preconceptions will no doubt find it irresistible.