Little House on Rocky Ridge

Little House on Rocky Ridge by Roger Lea MacBride

I remember when I first started reading chapter books. 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith when I was in 3rd grade with Mr. Hinz was the first, and I bought it through Scholastic. I read it more than any other book after Alice in Wonderland. And I had trouble finding something to follow …

Many other girls were reading the Little House series. I know it was recommended to me by librarians, teachers and mothers. The Little House on the Prairie TV show was one of my favorites anyway. My mom would visit the Book Emporium for cards or gifts and I would wander to the back of the store and gaze up at the series. I was enthralled by the number of books about the same family. I wanted more than anything to own all of them – right here, right now. Of course, I was very lucky to receive the first one, Little House in the Big Wood.

I could count on two hands the number of times I started that book. I probably never got passed the first chapter. I simply didn’t find it interesting in any way. There was ever only one other set of books that I couldn’t get through. I attempted The Lord of the Rings in 4th grade. The Hobbit cartoon was one of my favorites. I could not believe the two came from the mind of the same man. (I read them eventually in their entirety after watching the movies first. WOW)

I finally read the Little House book sometime last year or the year before. I read it to the girls, one chapter every night. We never checked out the next in the series. I will get to them, but I am in no hurry. They are just not compatible with “me”.

I tell you this because Little House on Rocky Ridge had been sitting my shelf for months. I really had no desire to pick it up. I kept pushing it back further down the list. I renewed it. I returned it. I retrieved it. I renewed it. I was only going to read it, eventually, because it was a Caudill Nominee some time ago. And then it was time. I couldn’t put it off any longer.

Was I ever surprised!

It is not my favorite book. It’s not in my top 100. I don’t know if I’ll pick up more in the series, but I enjoyed it. I read it quickly. Perhaps the television series ruined the first generation for me, but here was a new story I had never heard before about a woman I felt was a close friend growing up. I always thought I was Laura. Just the TV Laura, and not the book Laura.

If you’ve gotten this far, but are confused … Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the popular first generation of Little House books. This book is the first of the new generation written by the “adopted” grandson of Laura’s daughter, Rose, who was a storyteller herself.