Over the years of the Victoria Classics Book Club, our group has grown to encompass thousands of members connected by a love of reading. Below, find discussion questions for past volumes, which can be explored further on our Book Selections page. We also invite you to join the ongoing conversation on our Facebook page, where you will meet a delightful coterie of devoted readers.
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Delve into Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved Little House series, cherished by generations of readers as both a glimpse into America’s frontier days and also as heartwarming, unforgettable stories. Find a lovely hardback edition of the third and perhaps most well-known book in the series, Little House on the Prairie, in our online shop. Plus, find companion materials on our site, including “Pages from a Prairie History,” our feature about the idyllic homestead in the Missouri Ozarks Region where the author recorded her family memories.
In the first book of the biographical Little House series, Pa bestowed five-year-old Laura with the nickname “Half-Pint” due to her small size. Did your family have a special nickname for you? How did you get it?
Laura Ingalls Wilder shares sweet and simple recollections throughout the beloved series of books. “After the day’s work was done, Ma sometimes cut paper dolls for them,” she writes in Little House in the Big Woods. “She cut the dolls out of stiff white paper and drew the faces with a pencil. Then from bits of colored paper, she cut dresses and hats, ribbons and laces, so that Laura and Mary could dress their dolls beautifully.” Did you play with paper dolls when you were a little girl? What are some of your favorite memories of pastimes from early childhood?
Laura Ingalls Wilder focuses on her husband in the second book of her beloved series. Farmer Boy tells stories about Almanzo Wilder as an 8-year-old lad. While growing up on a farm, young Almanzo had a variety of chores and responsibilities. What are some of the chores you had when you were younger? What life lessons did you learn from having those responsibilities?
When the Ingalls family moves west, Laura Ingalls Wilder describes the scene before them. “There was only the enormous, empty prairie, with grasses blowing in waves of light and shadow across it, and the great blue sky above it … . And on the whole enormous prairie there was no sign that any other human being had ever been there.” Would going where no one had ever been before appeal to you? Or would you choose to stay in familiar territory? Explain your choice.
Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family live far from other people, but they are delighted when they meet their closest neighbor, Mr. Edwards, a bachelor who lives 2 miles away. He quickly becomes a dear friend, and the two men help each other build their homes. Can you describe a neighbor you knew you could call on, whether you needed a cup of sugar or a shoulder to cry on?
Charles Ingalls often entertained his family after dinner by playing his fiddle—sometimes accompanied by Mr. Edwards dancing to the lively tunes. It was a comfort to Laura to hear the music as she fell asleep, knowing that as long as he was playing, all was well in her world. Did music play a role in your family life? What music or song would make you forget your worries and lull you to sleep?
In her later years, Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote, “As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common, everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful.” What are some of the “everyday blessings” that make you feel grateful?
We close our time with Little House on the Prairie with a scene from an earlier volume, Little House in the Big Woods: “They were cozy and comfortable in their little house made of logs, with the snow drifted around it and the wind crying because it could not get in by the fire.” With winter on its way, can you describe your idea of a cozy setting?
Find Victoria Classics Book Club resources—including discussion questions, companion materials, and a reader forum—at Victorimag.com!