I read all the Little House books as a child, identified with Laura over Mary, etc, etc.

Now I am re-reading them for fun and I am struck by the lifestyle described in them in a way that I wasn’t when I was a child. It seems that almost all of life was devoted to the production and storage of food. And the descriptions make it sound as though nothing was wasted during the process of production. This stood out to me because I have also been reading a lot about factory farming and thinking about how detached most modern Western people are from the sources of their food.

The passages relating to holidays and gift-giving also struck me – the children were overjoyed with two simple gifts each – a pair of mittens and a peppermint stick. Imagine that happening now. :)

The one thing that hadn’t changed from childhood was my physical response to the books – now, as then, reading the descriptions of food made me incredibly hungry. It is amazing how so much of the book is devoted to describing food. I can’t wait for Farmer Boy – I remember that one made me REALLY hungry as a child.

I’m named after her!