Little House on the Prairie

I looked around the corner of the living room at my daughter sitting in MY chair and realized that she was 3/4 of the way done with her first novel. 335 pages of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie.
I had seen my 8 year old flipping the pages 2 days earlier, and asked her to read to me while I rested. Within minutes I was captivated and my short rest was extended. I got to hear about how Pa and Ma built their cabin out of logs pulled from the creek bottoms, and how Mr. Edwards had moved in right down the creek and was going to help Pa finish the cabin and barn.

I walked through the room at one point some hours later and she looked up with wide eyes and said, "The fire was like a wall all around their house!" and then said something about them saving baby Carrie before getting lost again to her new world. As if to allay my fears, a few moments later she reassured me that they had all been saved.

I learned in passing that the horses had been named Pet and Patty by the girls, that Indians had snuck into the cabin, and later that the Indians had returned to steal Pa's tobacco.

My mother claims, and I suppose I have some recollection, that she read this story to my sisters and myself when we were very young. So with what little I recall from at least 25 years ago, and the snatches of expression emitted from my recliner I've pieced together a few bits of the story.

To try for a more didactic approach, I quizzed her about her book a few days later:

So what did you like most about the book?
-I liked it best when they were traveling.
Why were they traveling?
-Because the Big Woods were getting too crowded and there wasn't enough game.
Who is your favorite character?
-Jack.
The dog?
-Yeah cause he's a dog.
Which character did you learn the most from?
-Laura and Mary.
What did you learn?
-I don't remember...
Did anybody change in the book?
-I don't remember - but Laura or Mary had a birthday.
-Laura and Mary learned something about the Indians.
What did they learn?
-They learned that they had built their house in the Indian's territory.
Were the Indians mean to them?
-No - but they would steal stuff from them sometimes. And they had skunk skins on them sometimes. They were stinky!
What did they use the skunk skins for?
-They were hats or to cover their bodies. Because they're bare - you know. At least mostly bare. -The children were all bare!
Indeed.
What did they eat?
-Meat, cornbread, and they drank water. And milk.
How did they get the milk - did they have a cow?
-Yep, and it had a calf. Actually it was bull.
The calf?
-No the cow.
So how did they get milk from a bull?
-It must have been a girl bull.
Huh?
-Well it had horns.

And then I remembered why reading is so important. I really don't think I knew - at 8 years old - that cows could have horns.

Horns, Udders.
Sit, Stand.
Red, Green.
Either, Or.

In the time I've gotten around to publishing this, she has now also archived the next book in the series. The library book bag is hanging by the front door, and I suspect Laura will grow older and have more adventures over the next week.