Reading with M.

 We've been digging into the Little House series now for almost a month and have read Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie . I would recommend these books for a number of reasons in addition to my own nostalgia from reading most or all of the series as a child (I don't remember if I got to the very last book). The language is beautiful and the description of the natural world is poetic and accessible without being overblown. There is also a sense of excitement in the quotidian, which is something we are struggling with at our house during this age of covid-19. We don't live in the woods, so our everyday is not the same, but it feels invigorating to hear about the things Laura and Mary do to pass the time. In addition, however—and here Little House on the Prairie is different from Little House in the Big Woods —there is sustained narrative engagement with Native peoples. At the beginning of  Little House on the Prairie ,   Pa, Ma, Laura, Mary, an...