We read all the books to our children.
One think we got from it was that her father was just absolutely nuts. Every time he got something established and working, he’d decide the neighbors were getting to close, pull up stakes and move his family further west.
The worst book is The Long Winter, where the Ingalls family nearly starves to death in the Dakota’s territory. I am still very surprised they didn’t come down with scurvy.
I remember reading about them waking up with snow on the bed, and twisting straw into logs for the fire. Whenever I’d get cold or tired, I’d think of them and say to myself, “I have it easy.”
I just read this last year. Amazing. I was particularly interested in the weather and if the LONG WINTER was related to any volcanic eruptions OR if any Climate Scientist/Meteorologist (not Global Warming) had taken a guess as to the weather pattern for that year.
http://boingboing.net/2012/12/11/the-meteorology-of-little-hous.html
http://www.scribd.com/doc/105341672/Laura-Ingalls-Wilder-06-The-Long-Winter