On the Banks of Plum Creek: (Little House Series: Classic Stories)

From AudioFile
At long last, these famous stories about the Ingalls family are making their way into audio. Narrator Cherry Jones finds the right pitch for every occasion. She reads about Laura's many escapades with a tone of gentle amusement. A serious, quiet tone sets the mood when grasshoppers destroy the first wheat crop, and a tone of anxiety draws out the moments when Pa is lost in a snowstorm. The production gives a sense of the joys and dangers of life on the frontier, and it also brings to life Laura's sense of wonder, curiosity, and fun. This is an excellent choice for families to share. A.F. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


Book Description

The adventures of Laura Ingalls and her family continue as they leave their little house on the prairie and travel in their covered wagon to Minnesota. Here they settle in a little house made of sod beside the banks of beautiful Plum Creek. Soon Pa builds a wonderful new little house with real glass windows and a hinged door. Laura and her sister Mary go to school, help with the chores, and fish in the creek. At night everyone listens to the merry music of Pa's fiddle. Misfortunes come in the form of a grasshopper plague and a terrible blizzard, but the pioneer family works hard together to overcome these troubles.

ANNOTATION

Originally published in 1937, On the Banks of Plum Creek is the fourth book in the Little House Series.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

America's OriginalPioneer Girl

Meet Laura Ingalls, the little girl who would grow up to write the Little House books.

Laura's family's first home in Minnesota is made of sod, but Pa builds a clean new house made of sawed lumber beside Plum Creek. The money for materials will come from their first wheat crop. Then, just before the wheat is ready to harvest, a strange glittering cloud fills the sky, blocking out the sun. Soon millions of grasshoppers cover the field and everything on the farm. In a week's time, there is no wheat crop left at all.

On the Banks of Plum Creek is the fourth book in the Laura Years series.The Ingalls family, after moving to Minnesota, encounters a terrible blizzard and a grasshopper plague.

1938 Newbery Honor BookNotable Children's Books of 1940–1954 (ALA)

Author Biography: Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in 1867 in the log cabin described in Little House in the Big Woods. As her classic Little House books tell us, she and her family traveled by covered wagon across the Midwest. She and her husband, Almanzo Wilder, made their own covered-wagon trip with their daughter, Rose, to Mansfield, Missouri. There Laura wrote her story in the Little House books, and lived until she was ninety years old. For millions of readers, however, she lives forever as the little pioneer girl in the beloved Little House books.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Gr 3-6-Laura Ingalls Wilder fans will rejoice at the fine presentation of her novels in audio format. Cherry Jones brings to life Pa, Ma, Laura, and all the other characters. Performed at the right tempo for the intended audience, Jones changes her voice just enough for each character so they can easily be distinguished. Singing period songs as Pa, exclaiming with delight over some new discovery as Laura, or gently scolding as Ma, Jones keeps listeners entranced. Pa's fiddle music, performed by Paul Woodiel, enhances the presentation. As with the print versions, putting the books' content into the context of events which happened over 100 years ago will help intermediate students understand why a song about "darkeys" would be included (Little House in the Big Woods), and why certain attitudes toward minorities, particularly Native Americans, are acceptable to the characters in the books.-.Judy Czarnecki, Chippewa River District Library System, Mt. Pleasant, MI Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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