Plums of Optimism in a Story of Struggle

On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Grade: B+

Genre: Book

Imagine what life would be like if you permanently left your comfortable house to move to another state and live in a hole in the ground. For Laura Ingalls Wilder this is just another event in her life.

On the Banks of Plum Creek tells the story of Laura Ingalls after her family moved out of the little house on the prairie in Kansas to live in a creek bank dugout in Minnesota. Her father soon builds a house and plants a wheat crop which he hopes to sell to pay off the debt her family has accumulated. However, at the end of the summer a cloud of millions of crickets soon shatters their hope when it comes and destroys their crop. Unlike the books in the series that precede it, this book includes an account of the suffering that Laura and her family go through after the crickets arrive and when her father has to leave her family for weeks to find work in the east.

Out of the Little House books I have read so far, I loved this one the most. What I really liked about this book was that it is not just about Laura, her family, and their daily life in and around a log cabin anymore. In this book Laura and her sister Mary begin to attend school as well as church for the first time, and they meet and make friends with girls outside of their family. Laura also has to deal with a spoiled girl named Nellie who bullies her and her friends.

The only aspect about this book that I disliked was the slow beginning, but once I was able to get past it I was able to enjoy the great story that followed.

This book does an excellent job of drawing the reader into its world and feeling a connection with the characters and feeling sympathy for their struggles. Even though Laura and her family go through hard times in this book, it has an optimistic tone that leaves the reader with a positive feeling once he or she reaches the last page and it shows the importance of family and sacrifice. It is a wonderful book that provides hope even during our modern hard times.