Little House in the Big Woods

As Laura is such a young child at the beginning of The Little House in the Big Woods, there are bound to be many significant first times and early memories involved in her story. These involve events such as Butchering Time, eating maple sugar, the dance at Grandpa’s, going to town, and seeing a wheat threshing machine at work. She receives her first doll, helps make butter and cheese, and experiences the seasons. These first times take place throughout the narrative and help provide structure to young Laura’s life. They are also a useful device for displaying the daily routines that are part of the pioneering lifestyle and imbue the book with a sense of optimism and wonder that helps make it such a beloved story among children. As the Little House books all together create a narrative that forms Wilder’s coming-of-age story, these first times are stepping stones in her biography; they help influence the woman she is to be in the future as she and her family continue to navigate life on the frontier and as she becomes a teacher, wife, mother in later books.